‘Welcome to Matthias Jaissle…seeing plenty of each other in next few days!’ David Moyes

David Moyes faces Matthias Jaissle on Thursday night at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

On Monday night, David Moyes faces Matthias Jaissle at St James’ Park.

This double header feels like it could be a massive moment in the season for both managers.

Victory on Monday night could see Matthias Jaissle and Newcastle United go into the Premier League top five.

Whilst for David Moyes and Everton, a win at St James’ Park would see the Toffees get out of the bottom half of the table.

Firstly and perhaps more importantly, whoever is victorious tonight of the two managers, they and their team will have League Two Fleetwood Town standing between them and the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.

David Moyes telling official club media ahead of this double header: “I’d like to welcome Matthias Jaissle and his staff to Hill Dickinson Stadium tonight. We’re going to be seeing plenty of each other in the next few days! After tonight’s fixture we’re in opposition again at St James’ Park on Monday for a Premier League fixture, while we also faced each other in the summer at Murrayfield in a pre-season fixture.”

Everton have only progressed from one of their last seven League Cup fourth round ties under David Moyes.

For David Moyes a case of hoping to change his fortunes with Everton in this competition: “We’re all fully aware of the importance of a good cup run. We’re one game away from the last eight and progress can help boost confidence, as well as having a positive impact on league form, so we want this run to continue as long as possible. We face difficult opponents tonight and there’s no given when you reach the last 16 of any competition. Our most recent game here against Chelsea saw us involved in a really competitive match, where we did lots of good things but weren’t quite able to get the first goal which might have made a big difference on the day. It was a similar story at the weekend. We came back from Arsenal on Saturday night disappointed with the scoreline but, again, there were lots of things our players did well in the game. We will need to continue to do those things whilst improving the other aspects of our play which can make the biggest difference in games.”

From what I have been reading ahead of tonight, the Everton fans aren’t exactly revolting, not yet anyway, but they are unsettled. A repeat of the 4-1 hammering they took off Newcastle United at home 11 months ago could potentially prove a tipping point.

David Moyes saying: “As always, we had excellent backing from our supporters at Emirates Stadium and I’d like to thank all of our fans who travelled down to London in miserable weather to get behind us…We now face three games in eight days, which is a challenging programme for us. We are not in European competition, so we are more likely to see our Premier League fixtures moved, like next week when we play on Monday and Friday. That’s not ideal for you supporters and for our players but it is something we will need to deal with. Once again Hill Dickinson Stadium is a sell-out attendance tonight, as it was for the fixture of Wolves in the last round, which underlines how desperate everyone at Everton is to enjoy a good cup run. Get right behind the team tonight. We are always thankful for your great support and we know you can make a difference.”

There will be at least 7,732 Newcastle United fans officially in attendance tonight, as for whatever reason(s), Everton gave United 50% more tickets than they were obliged to under the competition rules.

Newcastle United have won all of their last seven fourth round ties in the competition.

Here’s hoping Matthias Jaissle makes that eight out of eight and David Moyes is under even more pressure come Monday night at St James’ Park.

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