Everton: Baines issues Kyiv warning
Leighton Baines claims Everton can expect a tougher test in their Europa League last-16 away leg at Dynamo Kyiv than they did at home.
The Toffees take their slender 2-1 first leg lead to the Ukraine on Thursday as they attempt to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
And England international full-back Baines, who helped Everton defeat Kyiv’s fellow Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv in the UEFA Cup in 2007, was startled by the difference in their performance levels from the home and away legs.
Therefore he is warning his Everton team-mates to be prepared to face a very different Dynamo Kyiv side on their home turf as Roberto Martinez’s men look to keep alive their hopes of lifting the Europa League.
Baines told the Liverpool Echo: “I expect it to be a tougher game over there, it always is.
“When we played Kharkiv at home, it was a one-sided, easy game.
“I was on the bench when we went over there but I had to check the team-sheet because they looked like a completely different team.
“The pitch was terrible but they were playing one-touch. “We still talk about that game now and how it was like night and day.
“That whole campaign, when you go back and look at it, we played teams at home and blitzed them and then when we played them away from home they always seemed to be far stronger.”
Punters looking to use their free bet might fancy Everton to weather any storm Dynamo Kyiv can create and back them to qualify for the last-eight.
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