Newcastle United get the quickest revenge chance football can offer on Monday night: four days after Everton knocked them out of the EFL Cup with a 3-1 win on Merseyside, the same two teams meet again at St James' Park to close Premier League gameweek nine — with Jack Grealish's return still in doubt and a place in the top seven on offer for the hosts.
Kick-off on Tyneside is at 20:00 GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK, and the table could hardly set it up better. Newcastle sit one point above Everton, and a home win would lift Matthias Jaissle's side to seventh. Lose again, and David Moyes will have beaten the same opponent home and away in the space of a long weekend.
Four days on, the same fixture
Thursday's tie at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, covered in Beyond The Final Whistle's report of Everton's 3-1 cup win, turned in a devastating burst. After 34 scoreless minutes, James Garner, Hayden Hackney and Thierno Barry scored in a 25-minute flurry that had Everton 3-0 up by the 69th minute, and Dan Burn's late reply was only a consolation. It was Everton's third win in their last four meetings with Newcastle, whose only success in the last seven attempts was a 4-1 rout on Merseyside in November 2025.
The wider form lines point in opposite directions. Newcastle stopped their league rot with a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace in gameweek eight, but Thursday was a third defeat in four in all competitions, and their home record is the real worry: just one win from four Premier League games at St James' Park, no clean sheet at home in any competition this season, and 14 goals conceded in eight league rounds — among the division's top-half sides, only Chelsea had shipped more at that stage.
Everton, meanwhile, have lost their early momentum. Unbeaten in their first six league games, Moyes's side have lost their last two without scoring and are still waiting for a first Premier League away win of the campaign, having drawn three and lost one of their opening four on the road. Thursday's cup win was a reminder of what they can do; Monday asks whether they can do it where it matters most to their season.
Team news: Grealish, Osula and Branthwaite
The biggest selection question hangs over Grealish. The winger was omitted on Thursday for a breach of club discipline — reportedly an unauthorised training absence — and, as Sports Mole notes in its preview, there is no guarantee he returns to the matchday squad tonight. Moyes backed the club's decision last week, as Beyond The Final Whistle reported in Moyes's defence of the Grealish call, and he has given no team news away since. Tyler Dibling, who started the cup tie, could make a belated first Premier League start if Grealish is left out again.
Everton's brighter news is at the back: Moyes is confident Jarrad Branthwaite will clear concussion protocols in time to play, and the visitors otherwise report no injury absentees. Newcastle's list is longer. Tino Livramento (knee) and Ewen Jaouen (hamstring) are out, while Will Osula — who twisted his ankle before being withdrawn on Thursday — Lewis Miley (muscle) and Matias Fernandez-Pardo (illness) are all doubts, as OneFootball rounds up. DR Congo striker Yoane Wissa is set to deputise for Osula up front, and Joelinton is expected to return in midfield.
So what does tonight decide?
Three points would move Newcastle to seventh and turn Thursday into a cup footnote; a second Everton win in five days would instead confirm a pattern, with Moyes's side jumping above their hosts and Newcastle's home frailties becoming the story of their season. For Grealish, even a place on the bench is a verdict — included, and the discipline episode is closed; omitted again, and his Everton future becomes the week's biggest talking point.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Newcastle are the better side on paper and the needier one in the dugout, but paper did not help them on Thursday. Jaissle's team concede at home as a habit, Everton know exactly how to hurt them, and until Newcastle keep a clean sheet at St James' Park, every visiting manager will fancy this fixture. The revenge narrative is real — but so is the defensive record that made Thursday possible. Who takes the rematch tonight — Newcastle or Everton? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
