Everton will be targeting a morale-boosting victory when they welcome Doncaster Rovers to Goodison Park in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night.
Sean Dyche’s side have endured a difficult start to the Premier League season and find themselves rooted to the foot of the table after two rounds of action.
The Toffees were turned over 3-0 on home turf by Brighton on the opening weekend of the season before being trounced 4-0 by Tottenham last time out, in a game that brought up a couple of bets for our man Kevin Mac.
Back at their Merseyside base this midweek, Everton will look to arrest their early season slump by seeing off Doncaster in the second round of the EFL Cup.
After storming to a top-seven finish in English League Two last season, Donny have started the new campaign with two wins and one defeat.
Grant McCann’s men set up this clash with top-flight Everton after claiming a 2-0 win away at Salford in the previous round.
How the bookies view it: Everton to assert authority
Everton are overwhelming 4/11 favourites on Bet 365 to get the job done inside regulation time on Tuesday night.
Doncaster are as big as 7/1 on Betfred to claim the scalp of Everton while the 90 minute draw has been chalked up at 9/2 with the same oddsmaker.
Head to head: Everton aiming for 2023 repeat
The two teams came up against each other at the same stage of the competition this time last year, with Everton grinding out a narrow 2-1 win at the Keepmoat Stadium. Overall, the two clubs have crossed paths just nine times, with the Toffees triumphing on five occasions, while Doncaster have two wins to their name, with the other two games ending all square.
Players to watch: Beto to down Donny again?
Beto marked his Everton debut by scoring against Doncaster in last season’s aforementioned 2-1 EFL second round success. The Portuguese forward is expected to lead the line on Tuesday night, making him an appealing prospect for an anytime strike at 13/10 on Bet 365.
Joe Ironside opened the scoring for Doncaster against Everton during last year’s encounter and he is as big as 10/1 (Bet 365) to repeat the trick while he is 10/3 (Bet 365) for an anytime strike.
Predicted line-ups
Everton boss Sean Dyche is expected to shuffle his pack on Tuesday night, with the aforementioned Beto likely to come into the side, while Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom could feature from the start after both coming off the bench in Saturday's loss at Spurs.
The visitors will be without defender James Maxwell who suffered a metatarsal injury on the opening day of the season.
Everton: Pickford; Holgate, O'Brien, Keane, Young; Lindstgrom, Iroegbunam, Doucoure, Gueye, Ndiaye; Beto
Doncaster: Sharman-Lowe, Sterry, Anderson, Olowu, Molyneux , Gibson, Sharp , Clifton, Bailey, Kelly, Fleming
Anything else catch the eye?
Everton make little appeal at such short prices but bundling up a home win alongside under five match goals looks more than fair at 4/5 with Bet 365.
Each of the Blues’ last 16 competitive victories across all competitions at home have featured under five match goals.
The same bet would have also paid out in last season’s clash between the two sides, and that only adds to the appeal of siding with another low-key home win.
This EFL Cup match between Everton and Doncaster will be played on Aug 27, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Everton vs Doncaster prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
