The man Jürgen Klopp once termed the king of cup competitions is yet to live up to his reputation in that department since revolutionising Aston Villa, with Everton advancing to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup at the expense of Unai Emery’s side courtesy of goals by James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The Villa substitute Boubacar Kamara pulled a goal back late on but Everton held on through five minutes of nervy second-half stoppage time.
Emery’s track record as a serial cup winner on the continent cannot be disputed but since arriving at Villa last November it has been a different story. At the beginning of this year Villa suffered a sorry FA Cup third-round defeat at home to Stevenage, then of League Two, and last week their return to European group-stage action did not go to plan in Warsaw. His second game in charge was a defeat to Manchester United at the same stage of this competition last season.
