Our Everton writers Chris Beesley and Joe Thomas select their starting XIs for Wednesday's Carabao Cup third-round clash at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: Jack Grealish of Everton during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 12, 2026 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Jack Grealish, pictured in Saturday's 0-0 Premier League draw at Tottenham Hotspur, is pushing for his first start since his return to Everton(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
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Unbeaten in five matches in all competitions so far this season, Everton host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the Carabao Cup at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Wednesday night (7.45pm kick-of).
The Blues defeated another Championship side, Preston North End, 4-0 in the previous round, with Thierno Barry scoring his first hat-trick for the club and summer signing [Brennan Johnson](http://Brennan Johnson) coming off the bench to open his account since his summer switch.
So can Everton repeat the trick and seal their place in the last 16? And what starting line-up should David Moyes select?
Our Blues reporters have their say here...
Christopher Beesley
This time a year ago, Everton manager David Moyes made seven changes for a Carabao Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers. That was far too many and the Blues were duly dumped out of the competition by an opponent who failed to win a league game until after the turn of the calendar year.
Like the loyal but long-suffering Evertonians, Moyes has been badly let down by the chaotic end to the transfer window. It was shambolic that those running the club for The Friedkin Group left the Blues boss with a squad of just 18 outfield players, including a solitary striker, right-back and left-back. But right now, injuries are not biting too hard and plenty of players are still fresh or in need of minutes, so there is no excuse not to go strong.
For Moyes it should be a case of once bitten, twice shy when it comes to ringing the changes against Wolves. Get this tie won, then give your stars a breather.
There is a certain amount of light tinkering that could be tolerated though. Despite both Moyes and Jarrad Branthwaite speaking in recent days of how the centre-back is now approaching a stage in which he can manage three games a week, I’m not sure whether this should be the moment to start that experiment, so I’d give Jake O’Brien an overdue run-out in his favoured centre-back position.
Also, both Jack Grealish and Hayden Hackney can be brought in without weakening the team. Under normal circumstances, I’d be dead against giving Jordan Pickford the night off but England’s number one seems to have been nursing an injury in the past couple of matches, so if that is the case, I’d be willing to make an exception here and rest him to play Mark Travers – but only if it’s on doctor’s orders.
Some might be willing to give the likes of Tyler Dibling and Carlos Alcaraz starts but I don’t want to see Everton falling into the trap of making too many changes again. Therefore, they can wait until the Blues are hopefully comfortably ahead.
My team (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Maitland-Niles, Tarkowski, O’Brien, Mykolenko; Armstrong, Hackney; George, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish; Barry.
Joe Thomas
This is tougher than it should be, certainly than I expected it to be three weeks ago and with the transfer window entering its final week.
I think David Moyes needs to go strong. With Wolves’ focus surely on the Championship I would expect them to see this as a distraction. That might mean their spirit can be broken if Everton start well and I would therefore go strong in the hope I could then make changes early.
The big changes I would make would be to rest Jarrad Branthwaite, [Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall,](http://Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall) James Tarkowski and Thierno Barry.
I’d swap both centre backs because I think Michael Keane and Jake O’Brien will be fine together and it would give the other pair a rest.
I’d take out Dewsbury-Hall to give him a break and because I want to see Carlos Alcaraz get a game in the No.10 role. I’d rest Barry just because I’d like to see Brennan Johnson up top as I think Everton will have to explore that as an option this season. This would see me start Jack Grealish on the left to build his minutes up and move Tyrique George to the right.
My hope would be for Tyler Dibling to get a good run out from the bench and, if the Blues do well, it would be wonderful to see a senior debut for Braiden Graham.
Finally, I’d start Hayden Hackney over Harrison Armstrong, who has played every game so far. There’s a few changes there but I would expect that side to have enough.
My team: (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Maitland-Niles, O’Brien, Keane, Mykolenko; Hackney, Garner, George, Alcaraz, Grealish, Johnson.