Match report
Barry hat-trick sends Everton crushing past Preston into next round
Everton thrashed Preston 4-0 at Deepdale in the League Cup Round of 64, a result built almost entirely around Thierno Barry, who scored three times as the visitors dominated from start to finish. The scoreline reflected a one-sided contest in which Preston barely threatened at the other end.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Barry opened the scoring in the 25th minute, converting after being set up by Vitalii Mykolenko to send Everton in a goal to the good at half-time. He added a second shortly after the hour mark, then completed his hat-trick in the 70th minute with an assist from Brennan Johnson. Two minutes later Johnson turned provider into scorer himself, netting with Barry returning the favour to make it 4-0.
Everton controlled the ball for 67 per cent of the match and outshot Preston 29 to 5, with ten of those efforts on target compared to just one for the hosts. Preston, without a home win in their recent run, offered little resistance as Paul Heckingbottom's side were overwhelmed by Leighton Baines's visitors in every department.
Thierno Barry scored a hat-trick and set up Brennan Johnson's goal, finishing with a rating of 9.3 to headline Everton's rout.
Everton's dominance was laid bare in the shot count, outshooting Preston 29 to 5 across the match.
Everton won 4–0 away against Preston (half-time 0–1).
Preston met Everton in the League Cup (Round of 64). Kick-off was Wednesday, 26 August 2026, 19:00 UTC at Deepdale. Referee: Tony Harrington.
Team pages: Preston · Everton · League Cup
Key moments
- 25' Goal: Thierno Barry (assist: Vitaliy Mykolenko) — 0–1 · Watch Thierno Barry's goal video (25')
- 59' Goal: Thierno Barry — 0–2 · Watch Thierno Barry's goal video (59')
- 70' Goal: Thierno Barry (assist: Brennan Johnson) — 0–3 · Watch Thierno Barry's goal video (70')
- 72' Goal: Brennan Johnson (assist: Thierno Barry) — 0–4 · Watch Brennan Johnson's goal video (72')
Starting line-ups
Preston (4-2-3-1)
Everton (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Preston 11%, the draw 15%, Everton 74%. It finished Preston 0–4 Everton.
Everton's rating gap outweighs Preston's home ground — Everton are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Everton's 74%. The draw at 15% is held down by a high-scoring environment.
Why Everton at 74%?
Everton sit 488 points higher on our strength rating — 1374 to 1862. Sides with a more than 300-point rating edge on the road won 65.9% of 5,208 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 9–16–75.
Why not higher?
No scored evidence points the other way. 74% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 15% and Preston at 11%.
Why is the draw only 15%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 17.0%. These teams' recent games average 3.2 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 22.8% of 17,001. The goals environment takes 1.5 points off the draw.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Preston vs Everton final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this League Cup fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Thierno Barry's goal against Preston (25').
- Watch Thierno Barry's goal against Preston (59').
- Watch Thierno Barry's goal against Preston (70').
- Watch Brennan Johnson's goal against Preston (72').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Preston 0–4 Everton. Explore more on the Preston and Everton team pages or the League Cup page.