Everton drawn against Leicester in last eight

Draw is there for a few derbies. I would predict:

Man U v Man C
Colchester v Oxford
Liverpool v Everton
Villa v Leicester

Home tie is most important but to win it, at some stage the players need to stand up and start playing like the tale of last season again.

Leicester at home

I would take Villa at home. Colchester and Oxford to play one another. We beat Villa then play the winner of their game in the semi-final. That is assuming that we have any luck left!

Shit. At home. Bollocks. May win.

Home to Leicester will not be easy but not impossible either, could have been worse. Again, Premier League sides will have to go out. We should put everything into this, and try and get something.

Wrong again! At least we have a home tie. Unfortunately the Manchester teams got the lower clubs. Liverpool away to Aston Villa.

Could be Villa v Arsenal or Villa bye. Liverpool are threatening to pull out if they don't get their own way and have the date changed just to suit any their needs, due to the World Club Championship.

Home tie - and avoided both the Manc's and Liverpool.

At the start of the season, there was a lot of talk about both Everton and Leicester pushing for the top 6 or 4 and man for man there's not much in it.

Leicester have started well but that means nothing in a one-off game. This one is winnable with the squad we have.

"This one is winnable with the squad we have."

But not with the manager.

The assumption will be that Liverpool, Leicester City, Man City & Man Utd should be the semi-finalists. Let's hope that, for once, we defy expectations!

I'll take it.

Leicester that hammered Southampton 9-0 (vs 10 men I know), against goal-shy Everton. This lot scored more in that game than we'd scored all season at the time!

In all seriousness, and call me miserable if you like, but you really can'y see us winning this trophy.

You're miserable James.

Looks likely we'll have to beat 3 good teams to win this trophy.

Won't be the bookies favourites but at least we're still in at the later stages. See no reason why we can't beat Leicester. Very decent team but they've not beaten anyone good this season bar a very out of sorts Spurs.

Not the draw most would have liked but I think it is winnable.
Leicester are playing well at the moment, with some good attacking players.
Let's hope it brings the best out of our own players and it's a good game.
Predicting 3-1 win for us.
COYB

John, I'd rather have Leicester than Villa. Leicester will take the game to us and so we have a better chance against them. I'd much rather Leicester than the other three big names.

Oxford and Colchester must be gutted not drawing us. The way things are going they could be a regular fixture.

James@13: OK, you are miserable. Cheer up, once we hit some decent form we can beat anyone, perhaps apart from Man City.

Everton have beaten the positivity out of me, I can only apologise for my current demeanour. I'm also ill which isn't helping my mood, that and the current state of the world and UK politics.

I agree we can beat anyone, but we can also lose to anyone!

The Manchester clubs are clearly the beneficiaries of this draw and are nailed on for the semis.

Whether it will be a lock out on the city of Liverpool v the city of Manchester in the semi finals is more up in the air.

Predictions now are futile as the quarter finals are nearly a full 7 weeks away, during which time a lot can happen.

There's the conundrum of whether the 'bours will be forced to field a weakened time rather than rearrange the tie due to their world club cup commitments.

Then there is our own form and that of Leicester's between now and the game.

As well as looking very good this season, Leicester has good recent form at Goodison. If Leicester maintains their current form, they have a lot of potency in attack and you would expect them to score at least one.

Can Everton play into form by then and get the minimum two goals we would likely need to win?

Projecting optimistically forward, if the results and the draw falls right, there's the prospect of an all-Mersey final.

Should that happen and we actually win the sodding thing it would, I fancy, buy Marco Silva a helluva lot of time.

Only played Leicester once in the cup, that was the FA Cup in 2017 which we lost 🙈, 1-2.

Historically, we have been okay against Leicester but recent form we have lost 50% of our home games against them, not great.

Hopefully Leicester will play a similar side to the game against Burton, so we should have a better chance.

If you fancy a bet, both teams to score, 83% of the last 6 games at home against Leicester both teams have scored.

Can I second both Brian @14, and Stan @19?

James, you're seriously miserable! :-)

If we can't beat Leicester at home, we don't deserve to progress.

Over to you, Silva... if you're still here.

Not a bad draw; however, Leicester are flying at the moment and we are going to need a small miracle to get through, the way we are playing!

Looking at the games, I would say ours is arguably the hardest. Good job it's at home though.

Over the next seven weeks, if Silva hasn't sorted out this team he will be gone surely? We play pretty much all of the big teams, including them over the road, and bad defeats, especially against them, will prove too much for Silva to stay.

I am hoping that he will suddenly turn it around against the big boys like he did last season and two wins in the last three games gives him a platform. Spurs is a crucial game – win and we are on a bit of a roll, lose and the league performances will look like relegation form whichever way they are viewed.

I look at Tuesday's team and think we have a decent side which can beat most teams if they are determined and motivated. Can Silva motivate them? Klopp managed it last night the way they fought back throughout the game (I didn't watch it as I can't watch them without feeling sick – maybe that's why you feel ill James?) and if Silva can't then he will lose his job. I just don't understand how a team plays so poorly as soon as it sets foot on the pitch – what does he say before they go out and why do they ( presumably) ignore him?

We can beat Spurs and Leicester when it happens, whoever is in charge by then.

Dave 27/28,

If we do not pick up 6 points from the next 3 games then Silva should not be in charge for Matchday 14. To accumulate 13 or 14 points over ⅓ of the season is relegation form bearing in mind what follows in December!

Tim (22), We beat Leicester at Leicester in the FA Cup, 1968, I think, Jimmy Husband scored two in a 3-1(?) win.

As Jay Wood and Dave Williams point out, there are six weeks before we play this game; if they played on Saturday with both playing their strongest teams I imagine Leicester would be favourites to win. Let's see how we fare in the meantime, surely we will improve and give Leicester a game to remember.

That game versus West Ham, the movement and energy was very good to watch. It must still be in the players' ability to use it again and again, not just when they feel like it, or is it beyond the manager to motivate them every week?

Dave, spot on. One Howard Kendall got the third. Played West Brom in the final losing 1-0 🙈. Meant to say only played them at home in the cup once (I think) 😀.

Call me crazy but I would have preferred one of the big teams at home. Better knock them out earlier while they're still playing kids. Did you see that Liverpool side last night? You know they'll take it more seriously in the semi/final.

Tim (31), Fair enough Tim. What a team that was, a pleasure to go and watch them home and away, win lose or draw you knew you would be entertained...

Erm, then came the final and WBA, a team we'd beaten twice that season, 6-2 at their ground and we lost. Hard to take that game... Then the WBA winning goal came up, later on, in a tv advertisement for toothpaste every night for months.

This season our respective form is poles apart and unless we pull our socks up, or Leicester do not take it seriously, we will be toast. Gawd knows what state we will be in after Leicester, Liverpool and Chelsea in six days at the beginning of December, and then Man Utd a couple of days before this tie And it's anyone's guess who might be in charge by then.

Don't even mention an election.

Leicester???

Lady luck craps on us again!

Hopefully they have an off day and we have a good one, the way we're playing at the moment it's the only way I can see us getting past them, home or away.

🤔

Pro: it could have been worse
Con: it could have been a lot better
Pro: we're at home
Con: against the only other top table side that probably cares about winning this
Pro: good chance Leicester City has come back down to earth by then
Con: the best 4 sides left drew the worst 4 sides left
Pro: this will be a great opportunity for our new manager to make his mark
Con: Jamie Vardy vs Michael Keane

Coin toss?

It's a ways off and things change. Foxes on a roll at present and the Blues having problems but this is a cup competition and anything can happen.

Having it at home is an edge but, of course, Everton need to be performing better and the Premier League is so much more important right now given their position in the table.

Dave A, the best Everton team of all for me. Kendall's eighties team would not have got near to the Holy Trinity and Morrissey would have terrified Gary Stevens.

With a bit of luck, Leicester will have gone off the boil by the time we play them and either we will have improved or we will have a new manager who can motivate a team and will give youngsters, eg Gordon, a chance.

Just thought of something else, maybe the FA & Sky are setting things up for double derby semis!

When you're not even favourites against Leicester at home, you know something is seriously wrong.

No wonder James is miserable, how on Earth can anyone be happy with the state of 21st Century Everton?

Paddy Power have Leicester at 8/1 to win the tournament whilst Everton are 9/1 even though we are at home.

Says it all, doesn't it??

Strangely enough, I would have been happier to play the Dark Side rather than Leicester. We're much more likely to raise our game for them than Leicester, as the home derby last season showed.

Rob, and if you're going to have to face one of those top sides, it would've been nice to do so when they're playing their U23 sides.

The odds seem very generous?

11/8 - 9/5

Bookies must see something in us we don't?

Mark #43,

Klippty Klopp really doesn't like us, I have the feeling he would have taken a game like that bit more seriously.

Miserable is as miserable does.

Can anyone else see, due to our upcoming schedule of death, three to four straight defeats, Marco getting the sack, and Everton getting a new manager bounce and advancing by beating Leicester 4-0?

Maybe. Or maybe Marco turns the Titanic around in 7 weeks? Doubt it, but stranger things have happened.

In the middle of a tough run of fixtures. I do suspect, however, that the atmosphere will be cranked up a notch.

I recall we played Chelsea in the FA Cup Quarterfinal under Martinez in the middle of iffy league form. Crowd was electric.

Jamie C,

Tell me, my mate: Do you still believe in the tooth fairy?

(Re: Marco turning the Titanic round in seven weeks!)

Amit,

It's not too late to turn around our League form and position in the table. But all signs are highly unlikely that will happen.

Most fans will recognize this competition is pretty much our only hope for salvaging anything this season. And it represents the chance at ending the silverware drought.

I'd expect our fans to club baby seals against at Leicester, they'll be so ravenous for a win.

Derek,

Santa told me she's real.

Everton are like day and night with home or away fixtures.

I'll take that draw all day long.

People seem to put a lot of store in the likes of Paddypower and other 'turf accountants'. What they say is irrelevant, unless you like throwing money away.

The reality is, if we restore the kind of form we had in the finish to last season, we could beat anyone, provided corrupt or incompetent officials don't intervene on our opponents' behalf.

People also seem to be obsessed with Leicester, as if they're a major opponent. They're in a run of good form, and we're in a run of bad form. The situation can readily be reversed, which is in the very nature of 'form', since Leicester are simply a midtable mediocre side. They're not too dissimilar to us, but we have better players. We just need to gel, as at the finish of last season.

Of course, gelling was never likely to be easy this season, having lost Zouma and given Gana away, not having signed an experienced striker, and not having signed a centre-half. But it can be done, as evidenced by the West Ham game.

The fixture has been confirmed for Wednesday 18th December 2019 at 7.45 pm.

Steve @ 53, hopefully we might even be on the TV this time, otherwise there's a conspiracy against us, if we are not featured.

Hey Stan @52, I'm not so sure it's fair to call Leicester City a mediocre side (any more than it's fair to call us relegation fodder).

They've assembled a very talented young side led by one the best veteran strikers in the Premier League. More importantly to me, is that Rodgers has got them really playing as a team.

Each of our squad's 7 league fixtures leading up to this quarter-final cup tie are really, really favorable in Leicester's direction. But, as they say, this is why you play the games!

COYB

Derek, we do not perform very well on TV, so I'd rather not. Also, I'd rather it was on at 7:45 pm so I can get home 15 minutes earlier.

What Leicester currently have, and we don't, is coherence. Their spirit and willingness to take on their so-called betters are exemplary, and also marked their title-winning side.

If I could pick out one prevailing, deadly weakness of Everton for the last several decades, it would be the absence of courage and of the focus which courage brings.

Tony, Leicester are in a good period of form. Let's see if they are still on form come the quarter-final.

Rogers has always been a manager that has periods of good and bad form. Just look at his tenures at all of his previous clubs. Let's see if it lasts.

Let's not forget that they have the same issues with lack of personnel in defence as we do, and if injury strikes, then their whole season could be blown apart. It's been 10 games, not 38.

Mark @55: It's true that they're playing well, gelling as a team. We've done that as well, just not at the moment.

In the broader scheme of things, they, like us, are midtable. Their football is quite mediocre, as are their results since their 'freak' title win. I say 'freak' because although hats off to them, they struck lucky with the big clubs playing well below par at the time. Their title-winning 81 points is the number of points achieved as an AVERAGE by Man Utd over the 15 years prior to that title season, which is a measure of how good the top sides are compared with the likes of Leicester.

Not to take anything away from them, but we need to be realistic.

Steve,

All fair points. The galling thing for me when you look at Leicester City, is their style of play compared to ours.

They always have a go, and they're entertaining to watch. Can't say the same about Everton at the moment.

I'm not the proverbial miserable sod. But there's this sapping of hope vibe I can't shake with Everton presently. And watching Leicester play results in envy rearing its ugly head.

Steve @58, have you seen Leicester's 7 matches leading up the QF?

@ Palace
vs Arsenal
@ Brighton
vs Everton
vs Watford
@ Villa
vs Norwich

If they're not still in form come 18 December, I'll eat my phone.

We will be above them on the 18 December.

And in a semi-final.

Love your optimism Eric @62, but check out who they play in their next 7 (posted right above you @61), and who we play by comparison:

vs Spurs
@ Southampton
vs Norwich
@ Leicester
@ Liverpool
vs Chelsea
@ Man U

Oof

I agree with you, Steve, but my point about us holds.

I really didn't want Brenda but even the easy games are tricky. Oxford are cup experts, Colchester Utd beat Spurs, although it would've been funny at the game prior to say Colchester Utd next Tuesday.

Mark, I want to see that videoed and posted on twitter.

I have, Mark. Optimism is more fun than pessimism.

Mark@63: With respect, all of that means very little. Similar posts appeared last season before our decent run at the end of the season, expressing fear of our fixture list and how we'd get thrashed by top-6 teams. Look at how that turned out. Beware of future prediction, it very seldom works.

Eric, I don't know how you can turn up to Everton matches if you are not an optimist? We've been shit since the end of the '80s and if you don't believe we're just about to turn a corner, what's the point in going?

If Everton makes you miserable, then you stop going / switch them off, and go do something that makes you happy. Life is too short.

Everton have confirmed that the game is NOT on UK TV by the way.

Leicester rested several players against Burton away the other night. No Schmeichel, Maddison or Vardy. If they are still in the mix for the top 4 by the time this match comes round, I can see them doing the same against us.

With our away form, I'm glad we got a home draw. And I'd rather play Leicester than Liverpool, Man City or Man Utd.

Exactly, Steve. I've never been to a game thinking we wouldn't win, which is why I think we will beat Leicester.

Steve @66 how can I film it if I'm eating it! 😉

Eric @67/Stan @68 believe me, friends, not making any prognostications at all, and every single matchday I'm optimistic we can win. Just presenting the fixtures and how they appear to be in LC's favor given current forms.

Yeah Eric. Even in the dark days you used to start out thinking you'd get hammered then think well Big Dunc might be up for this, he might do this and so and so might do that and next thing you'd convince yourself it was a certain win.

Dunno about you Mark, but I've got about 5 old iPhones that all still work fine. Also, don't you have a significant other who can film it on theirs?

Mark, exactly, given current forms. But those fixtures are for the future. The beauty of the future is we never know how it will turn out, unless you've got a de Lorean (with flux capacitor) that you drive at 88mph.

Steve

Even during HK III season, somehow I would convince myself that the old Howard magic would click at some point with Farrelly, Oster and co.

Kieran, even after he left us, I still expected Johnny Oster to become Messi! There was no way Howard had got that wrong and the hype would not come to fruition!

Park three buses simply to watch Brenda go apoplectic as he thinks defending is somehow cheating.

We also played Leicester City away in the ZDS Cup in the early 90s'
2-1 defeat, Dave Watson scoring (?). Or Beardsley?

Stan @76 excellent reference!

Where we're going, we don't need any roads!

Mark@81

You do need roads to get to Fulham, Nottingham, Brentford, Hull, Luton, Reading, Stoke...

Sorry, couldn't resist it!

I don't want to talk about Silva anymore.

I feel he has become irrelevant. It is up to the players to step up and get in a good run of form because at this stage Premier League points and a winning habit are more important than an unlikely winning of the Carabao Cup.

As others have said there is plenty of time for Leicester to go on a bad run too.

James @82, you're bad! Go sit in the corner and reflect on what you've done 😂

I just googled to see how Liverpool were reprimanded for playing an illegible player in the last round of this cup v MK Dons, as I hadn't heard anything happening about the offence.

It turns out they were fined £200,000 with £100,000 suspended, seems very lenient to me.

Dave 85

Yep it was outrageous in terms of typical punishments. But I assume Carabao would rather keep RS involved and it's not like they played a guy who improved their team. That being said, Klopp's "I couldn't care less about this result/performance" indicates he isn't keen to progress despite not explicitly stating that publicly. So in a way it's poetic justice that their fixture schedule continues to expand against their apparent wishes.

Aided as usual by a very dubious penalty, Kieran.

Dave,
I suspect if you looked deeper into it you would probably find any other side guilty of the same offence would have been excluded from the competition. I know I have been at an amateur level.

Eric,

I remember on the international scene Mexico were banned for 2 years and missed a World Cup for fielding an ineligible player in an U17 game. Also, Stuttgart had to replay Leeds in the Champions League after fielding an ineligible player.

Eric, Grays and Bury were thrown out of the FA Cup for the same thing:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/dec/21/newsstory.sport2">Bury
Grays

That Bury link did not work, here's another one:

Bury

Dave @85 crazy that an ineligible player carried a £200k penalty, and UEFA only saw fit to fine Bulgaria what, €75k for their fans' disgusting display vs England, innit? But I digress...

Rob@8, there is no way our neighbours will need to pull out, they will bend over backwards to find them a new date even a month afterwards if needed.

Mark (92), yes it does appear paltry to the Bulgarian fine, but in relation to the penalties inflicted for the same offence, they got a walkover and half of the fine was suspended, a more suitable penance would have been the fine and having to play the game again.

Whatever happened to ‘ Be sure your sins will find you out'. If Liverpool was a serial killer they would get put on probation for six months.

Brian @93, you resurrecting the live forum Pornhub theme, mate? ;-)

Dave, absolutely. Also different ruling bodies which probably explains most of it.

Does sound a bit risqué when you read my post back Mark :-)

You just know though they will accommodate a new date, had it been us we would have been out the round before and banned for two seasons, for playing a player not registered.

They may even switch the final date to ensure our neighbours can take part.

Rodgers will want this, will powder puff Everton be able to stop them? I'm not so sure, at least one Pickford error on the cards. Let's hope Silva has started playing Kean up top as a forward.

Thanks Kieran and Steve

Steve, thanks for the links.

The game is 7 weeks off so a lot can happen in terms of form, injuries, confidence etc between and then. Current form may therefore mean nothing come the 18th December.

Nice cup run whilst it lasted. Play the kids and concentrate on the Premier League.

I'm not in a positive mood today.

Percentages and fine margins and with Everton, this season surely they will be able to play and manage out a few games with out calamities, and win?

It's gonna be hell the way the fixture list is between now and early New Year. If the players can't get motivated and show the desire and fight to play in all these games, then why is this so?

This malaise has gone on far too long, and the rocket, they all need to buck up, must start this weekend.

The hype and pressure will ebb and flow each week, but this is reaching a threshold in view of the net cash spent, we are no better than the days of Moyes and performing worse.

Back to Leicester, can we go toe to toe, on paper perhaps but once once park, our team, generally panic, and lose heart, systematically.

But Leicester can be beaten, but Everton will have to try and rekindle the home form of the last two months of last season.

Sadly it's as if they've forgotten and lost all heart from them days.

But at the end of the days 11 v 11 players, hearts, minds and the Goodison crowd.

The Goodison crowd, will be there. will the players?

Now for Spurs, can we stop Harry Kane getting another brace or hat Rick against us?

I hope we put a shift in. That game in 2012, shows what can be done if the players believe.

Would it have been worth our while drawing the RS in the quarter finals of the league cup? It's been announced that they will play villa on the same date as they play in the world club championship. So in other words, they are playing in two competitions on the same date, and will send a totally under strength team to play villa.

Robe mate, knowing us we'd lose to their third string to add another misery to our lives. 🤣

Brian, We would never live it down, and would have to go into permanent hibernation if that happened. Thankfully its all hypothetical as it's villa playing them. You just think though, if villa play their strongest team then surely they will get through?