In-form Everton suffered a shock 2-0 defeat by Championship Norwich at Goodison Park on Tuesday night, as Ronald Koeman decided to make six changes from the weekend win over Bournemouth.
It is now apparent that the Toffees lack depth in their squad, despite their impressive start to their Premier League campaign. The likes of Tom Cleverley, Ramiro Funes Mori and Enner Valencia came into the team and failed to impress for the Toffees.
The Championship team also made a number of changes to their team and may have only had two shots on goal, but due to the Toffees lacklustre display, the Canaries deserved to progress to the fourth round of the competition.
This game was a stark warning to the side from Merseyside that their squad may be lacking in quality. The first eleven have thrived in the Premier League but without the likes of Leighton Baines, Gareth Barry, Phil Jagielka and Romelu Lukaku the Toffees produced a disappointing display.
Everton boss Ronald Koeman had stated prior to the transfer deadline day that he wanted to strengthen his squad. The only arrival on deadline day was Ecuadorian Enner Valencia who played in Lukaku’s absence against Norwich.
In truth, the West Ham loanee struggled to trouble a well organised Canaries defence. The striker will have to do a lot more to have any chance of winning a starting place in the Everton first team. It looks unlikely he will ever be preferred in attack to Lukaku in the Premier League.
Everton’s good start to the campaign has raised expectations amongst fans that the team can challenge for the top six or the top four in the English top-flight this season.
This display shows that the Toffees will need their best 15 players to stay fit this season to be successful or they could be in for another mediocre season ahead.