Everton vs Southampton

When Everton and Southampton play in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night at Goodison Park, they'll be hoping to get past their terrible league starts.

With hosts Everton having their worst start to a season in 66 years, these are the only two teams in the Premier League without a point thus far this year.

On Saturday, Everton experienced a sense of déjà vu as the Toffees blew a two-goal lead for the second straight game.

At Villa Park, Sean Dyche's team startled Aston Villa by upsetting them with a 2-0 lead in under 30 minutes. Emiliano Martinez was beaten by Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the home goal.

Ollie Watkins' quick response, though, turned the tide of the match and made Everton appear vulnerable once more. The England international equalized the score early in the second half, and Jhon Duran's incredible goal completed the 3-2 victory for Villa.

A soft underbelly is emerging in the ranks, though it was not quite as disastrous as their previous loss against Bournemouth at home, when Everton led with three minutes of normal time remaining and lost.

Dyche has come under scrutiny given that Everton has now lost 23 points from winning situations since the beginning of last season and that his entire game strategy is frequently focused on holding on to what you have, nicking a goal or two, and then keeping things tight.

Everton hasn't lost their opening four league games of a season since 1958, thus their trip to Leicester City the following weekend is now crucial for Dyche's future and may take precedence over this.

But, Everton supporters, who are starved of trophies, will not accept losing out on a respectable chance to advance to the fourth round of a competition they have never won.

The Toffees have only had one final to their name since 1995, when they last experienced glory.

The previous campaign had a great chance to put an end to that run, but Everton was destroyed and did not win again for nearly four months after Amadou Onana missed a game-winning penalties in their EFL Cup quarterfinal matchup with Fulham.

In the last cup match between these two teams, which took place at Goodison back in 2018, penalties again decided the outcome. Southampton advanced but Everton lost.

Although Southampton triumphed 2-1 in January 2023 on their most recent trip to the blue half of Merseyside thanks to a double from James Ward and Robbie Prowse, they were relegated that season.

The visitors, who lost to Manchester United on Saturday for the fourth time in a row, are relegation hopefuls when they return to Goodison, but for the next few days, at least, they can only concentrate on cup issues.

Southampton had a strong start, just like Everton, but they were unable to capitalize because Cameron Archer missed a penalty kick in the first half that would have given them the lead.

Man United pulled off the ultimate sucker punch, scoring twice before the half and going on to win 3-0 at St Mary's.

Given their different preseason goals, manager Russell Martin is under a little less pressure than Dyche, but his progressive style of play has drawn criticism for not working thus far.

Their inability to score against 10-man Newcastle United and missing a penalty last weekend, along with their only goal of the season—a late consolation against Brentford in a 3-1 loss—sums up their current situation. Their offensive ineptitude has been particularly costly, though.

Though the Saints have advanced to round four in ten of the previous thirteen seasons, as well as to the final in 2017 and the semi-finals in 2023, the EFL Cup has frequently been a happy hunting field for them.