Preview: Preston North End vs Everton - prediction, team news, lineups

David Moyes returns to his former stomping ground on Wednesday night as his Everton side travel to Deepdale to face Preston North End in the second round of the EFL Cup.

The winners of this televised tie will secure safe passage into the third-round draw taking place live at full time, with the next stage of the competition scheduled for the weeks commencing September 7 and 14.

Match preview

Everton ended their four-year run of losing their opening Premier League game of the season by beating Crystal Palace 2-0 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium last weekend to kick-start the 2026-27 campaign in positive fashion.

Moyes acknowledged post-match that his Toffees team “could have easily been a couple of goals down” following a shaky start to the contest, but the Scotsman was able to take positives from how his side managed the game after goals scored by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry.

Tricky Premier League fixtures against Bournemouth, Man United and Tottenham are on the horizon for Everton, but they must first shift their focus to the EFL Cup, a competition they have never won since it was founded 66 years ago.

The Toffees, who have not lifted any form of silverware since the 1995-96 Charity Shield, have not been eliminated as early as round two in the EFL Cup since the 2001-02 campaign, but they have failed to progress beyond the third round in eight of the last 11 years.

Coincidently, Everton’s most recent meeting with Preston was in the EFL Cup back in October 2004, with the Merseysiders battling to a 2-0 third-round victory at Goodison Park despite playing the final 20 minutes with 10 men.

Preston North End have not started their 12th successive campaign as a Championship club as planned, having suffered back-to-back defeats to Bolton Wanderers (2-1) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (1-3), losing to the latter last weekend.

Tipped by many to struggle in the second tier this term, Preston’s latest setback highlighted the club’s need to bolster their squad before next week’s transfer deadline, with head coach Paul Heckingbottom suggesting post-match that there was a clear gap in quality between the Lilywhites and Wolves.

While Preston are yet to taste victory in 90 minutes this term, they did navigate past Huddersfield Town via a 4-3 penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in the EFL Cup first round earlier this month. The Lilywhites have reached at least the third round in seven of their last 11 EFL Cup campaigns.

However, Preston have won just one of their last six encounters with Wednesday’s opponents Everton (D2 L3), while their last domestic cup triumph over the Toffees was back in January 1946 when they claimed a 4-3 aggregate win in the FA Cup third round.

Interestingly, Moyes has managed both Preston and Everton across the last two head-to-head meetings, with the 63-year-old losing 2-0 to the Toffees in the FA Cup fifth round in January 2000 during his time in charge of the Lilywhites, before winning 2-0 as Everton boss in the EFL Cup third round in October 2004.

Preston North End EFL Cup form:

Preston North End form (all competitions):

Everton form (all competitions):

Team News

Preston’s Lewis Gibson is suspended but is also dealing with a groin injury, while fellow defender Odel Offiah is also nursing s groin issue of his own that forced him to miss the defeat to Wolves.

Jusef Erabi, meanwhile, has emerged as a doubt after sustaining a knock last weekend. The forward netted a 90th-minute equaliser on his competitive debut for Preston in the first-round clash with Huddersfield.

Milutin Osmajic has completed a permanent move to Genoa, so unless Erabi is fit to lead the line, 17-year-old George Gryba could be handed a start up front, with Alfie Devine, Callum Lang and Delano Burgzorg providing support in attack.

As for Everton, Tim Iroegbunam is facing several weeks on the sidelined with an adductor strain, while fellow midfielder and summer signing Christian Norgaard is not yet 100% fit and will miss the midweek trip to Deepdale.

James Garner made a surprise return as a substitute against Palace after recovering from a hernia operation over the summer, but it remains to be seen whether he will be ready to start against Preston.

Mark Travers, Jake O'Brien, Michael Keane, Charly Alcaraz, Brennan Johnson, Tyler Dibling and Beto all began as substitutes last weekend and will be hoping to force their way into the starting lineup for this match.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Nicholls; Valentin, Storey, Lindsay, Vukcevic; Leroy, McCann; Lang, Devine, Burgzorg; Erabi

Everton possible starting lineup:

Travers; Patterson, O’Brien, Keane, Mykolenko; Hackney, Armstrong; Dibling, Alcaraz, Johnson; Beto

We say: Preston North End 0-2 Everton

Preston should relish their status as underdogs on home soil, but their recent defensive vulnerabilities are likely to be exploited by Premier League opposition.

Even if Moyes elects to make several changes to his starting lineup, Everton should ultimately possess too much top-tier quality for their hosts and safely secure passage into the third round.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.