Middlesbrough vs Everton-Capital One Cup Quarter Final preview

It is time for the Quarter Final stage of the Capital One Cup, and now teams and their fans can start realistically seeing Wembley just over the horizon. Last round saw some giant killings, which included Middlesbrough beating Manchester United 3-1 on penalties at Old Trafford in a valiant display that increased morality on Teeside after a few hard weeks as the Steel works had just closed which were a big employer in the area.

Middlesbrough will face Everton at the Riverside Stadium in the first match between the teams since 2009, when Middlesbrough went down to the Championship. This is the furthest Middlesbrough have got in this cup since they won the Cup in 2004, however they have got here 2 times since(05/06 & 12/13). Everton have never won the competition but have finished 2nd twice, in 76/77 and 83/84.

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough are 2nd in the Championship after a 2-0 win at Huddersfield on Saturday. Their current top scorer is Christian Stuani with 7 goals in all competitions and he is the current joint top scorer in this competition with 4 goals. It is unsure whether he will play as he picked up a injury in October whilst playing for Uruguay and has only played twice as he made 2 substitution appearances in the last two games. Their top scorer in the league is Nugent and Fabbrini who both have 4 goals each.

Middlesbrough are a hard team to beat at home and only 4 teams have managed to win Boro at the Riverside this season and last in all competitions. They last beat QPR at the Riverside in a 1-0 victory, though they managed to battle their way to a hard earned 2-0 victory over Huddersfield. The lack of shots on target have cost them this season against teams like Bristol City, Hull City and Fulham have cost them the win this season. Karanka likes to play with 1 up front, but maybe 2 up front may be a better tactic against Everton.

Everton

Everton played Bournemouth on Saturday and it ended 3-3, though they were 2-0 up on 80 minutes it looked like they had won the game when Barkley scored in the 4th minute of injury time, but Junior Stanislas scored in the 98th minute and Everton sit 7th in the Premier League table. Before that they Aston Villa 4-0 at Goodison Park, with Lukaku being the top scorer for Everton with 12 goals in all competitions and 10 in the league.

Out of 7 away League matches, Everton has won 2, lost 1 and drew the other 4. Holes in their defence has cost them as they have been denied points at various places like Arsenal and Bournemouth. Middlesbrough will take advantage of these and this is where they will succeed against Everton. If Everton dont show these holes in their defence then they have a really good shot at beating Middlesbrough.

Last Round

Both teams went to extra time and penalties in order to make it to this round of the competition. Middlesbrough went across the Pennines to face Manchester United at Old Trafford. Both Downing and Friend went close in the first half for Boro before Lindgard’s shot fired off the bar in the second half. Downing and Leadbitter also came close for Boro, before Rooney and Fellani both came close before the time was up. Leadbitter put his penalty away before Rooney had his penalty saved. Then Nugent had his saved as Pereira put his away. Downing calmly put his away then Carricks was put sky high. Finally Gibson put his away and Mejias saved Youngs penalty for Boro to win 3-1.

Everton faced Norwich at Goodison in the last round and this also ended up in penalties. Hoolahan had the first shot of the game and just put it wide of the goal by Robles. Lukaku then had a brilliant effort saved by Rudd in the Norwich goal. Both teams had other chances before half time with Lukaku just missing and Odjidja-Ofoe just missing too. Bassong then scored after half time which was a consequence of Everton relaxed defence. Mirallas then crossed it in for Osman who equalled the game up. Both teams had chances but the game ended 1-1. Dorrans and Deulofeu both scored the first penalties. The same happened with the next takers, Whittaker and Barkley. Hoolahan then missed whilst Lukaku put his away. Grabban and Gibson both scored their penalties before Redmond missed his and Everton won 4-3.

Current Form

Middlesbrough have won both their games since the away loss to Hull City at the beginning of the month. Before that they had 3 league wins (plus the win over Manchester United) and before that saw a dip in form and that started in October with a loss away to Reading. Their home form is good though as they have lost only 4 in the last 34 (this season and last) home games in all competitions.

Everton are unbeaten in their last 5 games, with their last loss being away to Arsenal 2-1 and before that Manchester United beat Everton 3-0. The game before that was a draw against Liverpool. Since October Everton 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses (and a win on penalties). Their away form isn’t too bad with 2 wins, 1 loss and 4 draws in their 7 away league games this season.

Head to Head 

This will be the 130th meeting between the 2 teams, with the last being in the 2009 FA Cup quarter final. Everton have won 61 times whilst Boro have only won 33 times and there has been 35 draws between the 2 teams. The last time the 2 teams met in the League Cup was in 2004/05 season when Boro won 1-0 in the 4th round. Everton also met Boro in the 2003/04 League Cup in this round, which Boro won on Penalties and then went on to win the League Cup itself.

The Match

Both sides are strong and have their own issues. Lukaku and Barkley could prove hard for the Boro back 4, but similarly Downing and Adomah could prove a big threat on the wings for Boro. This could go either way but expect a hard fought and close match between Everton and Boro.