Welcome to the Everton v Newcastle United match preview.

A League Cup fourth round clash on Thursday 29th October with a 7.45pm kick-off.

Newcastle United look to continue their fine recent record in the League Cup this Thursday when battling Everton in the fourth round for a place in the quarter-finals.

The match taking place just two days before Halloween means that The Toon will be waiting on the availability of Fabian Scare, Sven Bat-man and Harvey Bones.

A number of former Toon players are rumoured to be in attendance, including Keith Ghoul-espie, Craig Hell-amy, Jonas Spookierez and Charles N’Zombia.

Regardless of any Halloween puns, an almost eight-thousand strong travelling Toon Army will be hoping for a victory that will see them sinking plenty of ‘spirits’ throughout the night!

This is the first of two crucial matches against Everton in the space of just five days with the two teams reconvening their battle in the league at St James’ Park on Monday night.

Both matches have been selected by Sky TV meaning that, astonishingly, only one of our first twelve matches in all competitions hasn’t been available on UK television.

Cup run

The Toon have played twice in the League Cup this season, both against Championship opposition. An early season home match against West Brom wasn’t short of drama and United found themselves 1-0 down when conceding an early free-kick at the Gallowgate End. Thankfully Toure scored his first goal for the club near the end of the half to level the scores and Harvey Barnes netted at the start of the second half to put NUFC ahead. Any Toon fan thinking this would signal an easy passage into the next round however was to have another thing coming. West Brom were awarded a penalty with just thirteen minutes to play and netted their second set-piece of the match to seemingly ensure a penalty shootout would be needed to separate the sides. Thankfully Barnes popped up with his second of the night to secure a place in the next round and send most of the crowd home happy.

We went on to play Millwall away in the next round and survived some major scares to win late on when Joe Willock scored the only goal of the game. We’ve scored four goals in these two games and conceded two.

Everton’s passage to the fourth round has been slightly more straightforward, they went away to Preston in Round Two and swept aside North End with a comprehensive 4-0 win. They then hosted Wolverhampton Wanderers and scored a late goal in a hard-fought 1-0 victory. They’ve scored five goals and conceded none in the League Cup so far this season.

Last time out

Newcastle travelled to Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon to do battle with Crystal Palace. The first half was a fairly turgid affair with United really struggling to get going and barely creating a chance worthy of the name. Thankfully all of that changed at the start of the second half when a brilliant cross from Jacob Murphy was whipped into the danger zone and touched home by Osula to give the Toon the lead. A few minutes later, it looked like we’d made it 2-0 when Willock was played through and slotted home with a composed finish. Unfortunately his effort was ruled out for a marginal offside but NUFC were clearly on the front foot and, soon after, an intricate passing move was finished off by Harvey Barnes to ensure our third win in London of the season. Palace huffed and puffed but never really looked like getting a toe-hold in the game as Hornicek pulled off a couple of great saves to avoid any unwanted late drama.

Everton visited Arsenal on Saturday and found themselves behind after just seven minutes. Despite this early setback, the Toffees put in a valiant effort in an attempt to get back in the game. The knockout blow however came in the second half when Arsenal doubled their lead and went level with Man City at the top of the table.

Stat attack!

-The Toon have won their last seven League Cup Round Four matches.

– This is only the second time NUFC have visited the Hill Dickinson stadium following on from a 4-1 win last season.

-Newcastle have reached at least the Quarter-Final of the League Cup in all of the past four seasons: Finalists in 2023, Quarter-finalists in 2024, Champions in 2025 and Semi-finalists in 2026.

Memorable match

The two sides have only met once before in the League Cup and what a match that was! In 02/03, Sir Bobby was looking to end NUFC’s thirty-three year wait for a major trophy and a Third Round home tie provided the perfect opportunity for a crack at winning the League Cup. Newcastle were behind for much of the first ninety minutes after Kevin Campbell put the Toffees ahead early on. This lead would last until the seventy-seventh minute when the momentum swung dramatically due to a quick-fire brace from captain-for-the-night Kieron Dyer. His first was a straightforward tap in but his second was an absolute beauty, finding the top corner from outside of the box to seemingly put the Toon into the next round. Unfortunately there was still much more drama to come. There were just five minutes left to play when old boy Steve Watson made it 2-2 and sent the tie into extra time. Despite a breathless ninety minutes, there was no respite from the drama in extra time with further scoring at both ends. Firstly another Newcastle old boy got his name on the score sheet but thankfully, unlike Watson, Alasandro Pistone found his own goal to make it 3-2 to United at half-time of extra time. It now surely looked like the Toon had secured a win but with just seven minutes of extra time to play, a Steve Caldwell foul saw him sent off and Everton awarded a penalty that they scored to send the two teams into a dreaded penalty shootout. Things were once again looking good for the Toon when Dyer and Solano conversions book-ended a Steve Harper save to put us 2-0 up in the shootout. Sadly, misses from Viana, Chopra and Robert handed the tie to Everton and put paid to United’s dream of lifting the trophy. Newcastle 3-3 Everton (Everton won 3-2 on penalties).

Played for both

Steve Watson came through the youth team at NUFC and spent eight years at the Toon before moving on to Aston Villa. A defender by trade, he did possess an eye for goal and often came forward to good effect, scoring our last winning goal at Anfield in 1995 with a fine effort to win a League Cup tie. He played for Everton for five years from 2000 and scored a memorable hattrick in a 4-0 win over Leeds.

Gary Speed was a lifelong Everton fan and signed for the Toffees from Leeds in 1996, scoring on his debut against the Toon in a 2-0 win that put a dampener on Alan Shearer’s first start for the black and whites. The attack-minded midfielder made fifty-eight appearances in two years at Goodison, scoring sixteen goals before signing for Kenny Dalglish in February 1998. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3-1 win over Barnsley in the FA Cup quarter-final as we marched towards a Wembley final. He spent six years under Newcastle, playing under three different managers and making three separate appearances for the Toon at the old Wembley stadium. Highlights of his time at NUFC include scoring the winning goal in a UEFA Cup quarter-final against PSV, an absolutely belting volley in a win against Bradford and a headed equaliser in a crucial champions league win over dynamo kiev. A true modern day legend.

Tragically, Gary Speed took his own life in 2011. If you or anyone you know is struggling then please call the Samaritans for free on 116 123. Never feel like you have to face things alone.

Duncan Ferguson was an Everton legend in two different spells at the Toffees either side of playing for Newcastle United. Unfortunately, his time at St James’ was overshadowed by a complete lack of form and fitness. His two-year spell at the Toon started well enough with two goals on his debut at home to Wimbledon but things went downhill soon after. There weren’t many great memories of his time on Tyneside but a superb turn and volley in a 3-0 victory of Man United was wildly celebrated on a day when everything went right for the real United as the Premier League champions were blown away.

Managers

Matthias Jaissle after a 2-0 victory away at Crystal Palace: “Today we went for more experience and leadership skills. It was a tough game especially in the first half. But the second half was much better and we threatened the opposition more. If we are all together – this journey can be successful. In the first half we weren’t bad out of possession, but we did not have an offensive mindset. We had the handbrake on. In the second half we moved and we deserved to win. It was a tough game, especially in the first half. We couldn’t get ourselves the reward for the intensity we put in out of possession after the ball wins. In the second half, it was much better. We were more target-orientated, we threatened the opposition more and, therefore, I think when it comes to the second half and that improvement. In the end, also that willingness to defend and to have that clean sheet. It was a deserved win.”

David Moyes after a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal: “Conceding early made it hard and we couldn’t really get ourselves back into the game after that. Huffed and puffed a little bit, stuck at it for long parts of the game, which was good. We never gave them anything easy but, in the end, we didn’t have enough. I need to see the first goal again but I know it was a little bit scruffy at the back post. We didn’t quite clear it or get a touch on it. But, apart from that, we defended pretty well from most set pieces. We didn’t do enough in an attacking sense but we certainly did a really good job defensively, try to make it difficult for them. We really wanted to score some goals. We had a couple of chances, Thierno Barry in the first half and then a bit unlucky with Dewsbury-Hall late in the game.”

Charity

As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online.

Prediction

We should not underestimate the importance of this double-header against the Toffees. Two wins could see us in the Quarter-Final of the cup and battling for the European places in the league. Two defeats however would see one chance of a major trophy dashed and a potential slide into mid-table mediocrity. I’ve a feeling this one is going to go the distance and a 1-1 draw will see the tie settled via a nerve-wracking penalty shootout. We’ve had a fantastic recent-record in this tournament and I fancy that to continue on Thursday night. Everton 1-1 Newcastle (Newcastle win on penalties).

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