Following the Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur and the League Cup victory over Wolves, our Everton jury have returned to have their say
David Moyes speaks to Tyler Dibling during Everton's win over Wolves
David Moyes speaks to Tyler Dibling during Everton's win over Wolves(Image: (Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images))
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Everton’s impressive start to the season continued on Wednesday night when they beat Wolves in the Carabao Cup. Tyler Dibling, named man of the match, assisted Charly Alcaraz, who scored three minutes after coming on to set up a fourth tie against Newcastle United.
The victory came just a couple of days after the Blues drew 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur in the capital. Next up is another home game this time against Ipswich Town before a long international break.
And our Everton jury have returned to look back on a busy couple of days and also look ahead to Saturday’s game against Gary O'Neil’s side.
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Paul McParlan
As I was walking to Hill Dickinson Stadium last night, my biggest concern was how many changes David Moyes would make to his starting eleven. This time last year we fielded a weakened team at the same stage of the Carabao Cup at Molineux and lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers in a dismal display which fuelled understandable anger amongst fans. Facing the same opponents again, would David Moyes learn from that mistake? He had!
Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury Hall, Hayden Hackney, and James Garner all started, and it made sense to protect Jarrad Branthwaite and give Jake O'Brien an opportunity at centre back. In contrast, the Wolves boss made wholesale changes, and the gaps in the visitors’ section showed they did not see this game as a priority, with a local derby against West Bromwich Albion coming up on Sunday.
Nevertheless, Wolves proved to be surprisingly obdurate opponents, and we struggled to break them down. Our lack of pace on the flanks and failure to create many clear chances only added to the fans' frustration. The stadium was eerily quiet, with the Wolves fans' chants of ‘football in a library’ echoing around the arena.
The game was a big opportunity for Tyler Dibling to show why we had paid £40m for him, and I was pleased to see him start. Understandably, he looked nervous at first but grew into the game, especially in the second half, producing some excellent passes and looking a threat when he had the ball. His pass to set up Charly Alcaraz for the winning goal was sublime, and his recovery run to prevent an opposition counterattack would have impressed the manager.
Tyler Dibling after the Carabao Cup third round match between Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Photo by Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images
Tyler Dibling after the Carabao Cup third round match between Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Photo by Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images
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It was good to see Alcaraz continue his habit of scoring for us in this competition. He is a talented player who can produce moments of skill to unlock defences and knows how to finish. Last night he was brought on with 13 minutes remaining; normally he has to wait till stoppage time, and he scored three minutes later! It does make you wonder what impact he could have if he made the starting eleven occasionally.
The post-match misery of waiting at Sandhills station was alleviated somewhat by the news that we had been drawn at home in the next round against a struggling Newcastle United side, which offers us a real chance of progress in this competition. It is still the one piece of domestic silverware that we have not lifted, and I would like to see us claim it sometime soon. It is still, arguably, our best route into Europe next season.
We are still unbeaten in the Premier League, and we should look to extend that run against newly promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday. It would be such a boost to go into the upcoming international break with another win, a healthy position in the table and in the last 16 of the League Cup. Small steps, but maybe we are showing signs of heading in the right direction?
James Kellett
Everton’s 1-0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup proved to be a nervy affair. David Moyes learned his lesson from last season and opted to select a strong squad, yet their opponents decided to rotate their lineup, which included former Toffee Joao Virginia, who made his debut in net for the Midlands outfit.
Players like Tyler Dibling, Jake O’Brien and Charly Alcaraz, who eventually scored the vital winning goal, were all handed opportunities to prove their worth; none of the three had featured heavily in the 2026-27 campaign.
Although Alcaraz bagged the winner, and O’Brien put in a sturdy performance in a back two with Michael Keane, Dibling turned out to be the fans' favourite, after comfortably claiming the Player of the Match award.
After moving from Southampton in August 2025, his first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium was far from ideal, as he struggled to string any impactful performances together. But the 20-year-old has remained patient, and following a promising pre-season, he recorded his best match yet in the Blues’ third-round Carabao Cup win.
Charly Alcaraz celebrates after scoring against Wolves
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It was a rarity to see the winger complete a full 90 minutes for his side, and he repaid his manager's faith by providing the assist for Alcaraz’s winner in the 80th minute. Yet his performance was so much more than a pivotal assist.
From the first minute, Dibling was keen to take on his opponent at left back, Ghislain Konan, with a mixture of runs to the byline and cuts inside.
On top of his willingness to beat a man by himself, the Englishman was also astute enough to make use of his range of passing, best showcased through his insightful through ball to Brennan Johnson midway through the second half, only for the Welshman’s attempt to be thwarted by the rushing Virginia.
However, while his match-winning assist could be argued to be his most important contribution of the evening, Dibling’s outstanding last-ditch tackle on Tewanda Chirewa prevented the Toffees from falling behind and ensured the game remained in the balance.
It was a satisfying all-round performance from the winger, who was a useful outlet in both attack and defence for Moyes’ side, and it was the display that Evertonians had been waiting to see since completing his £40 million move. Dibling is by no means a finished product, and he will no doubt have more struggles as he continues to develop, but it is now clear he is almost certainly a player who is ready to spread his wings.
Mark McParlan
Wednesday evening’s performance was flat and ponderous at times. I’m not getting carried away that almost our strongest XI scraped past a Wolves B team in the 80th minute, but we clearly controlled the game (despite one or two scares) and were unlucky not to score more. Our former backup, Joao Virginia, did an excellent job of keeping us out for most of the game.
As always, our clean sheet record with Jake O’Brien playing at centre-back is spectacular. Meanwhile, Tyler Dibling completed his most assured performance in a blue shirt, and of course, Charly Alcaraz produced a reminder that he can still bring directness and a goalscoring threat from midfield. In some positions, we do have solid depth.
We’ve already done better in the League Cup than we did last year, and I’m fairly confident that man-for-man, we could be favourites against Newcastle at home and hopefully progress to the quarter finals.
Jack Grealish in action against Wolves
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On the weekend at Tottenham, we managed to ride out an appalling first 15 minutes or so to play much better in the second half. Two massive chances to snatch the win fell to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Brennan Johnson – we could have turned a solid start to the season into a great one.
Unfortunately these 5.30 kick-offs in London are an absolute nightmare, with the last train to Lime Street departing at 8.12pm. I’m still concerned that we lack punch up front. Barry has had two average matches in a week, and I can’t see how he benefits from almost zero rotation. He must be shattered. As usual, we’ve watched Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s continuing goalscoring performances for Leeds with a mixture of curiosity and envy.
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Clearly, results and performances have been good, with 6 unbeaten to start the season, even if we’ve drawn the last three in the league. The key test now is if we take advantage of the more generous fixtures coming: Ipswich at home Saturday and then Hull away after the international break. Two wins there, while keeping the squad in a clean bill of health, and we could be building something.