Everton vs Boreham Wood: Magic of the cup surely about to run dry for National League side

Michael Keane celebrates his goal against Leeds United

Premier League strugglers Everton host National League high-flyers Boreham Wood in the fifth round.

Boreham Wood will attempt to pull off perhaps the greatest shock in FA Cup history when they travel to Goodison Park to face Everton on Thursday evening.

The National League outfit have already tapped into the magic of the cup to get past Championship side Bournemouth in the fourth round, although Everton will surely represent a tougher task despite their Premier League struggles.

The Toffees, meanwhile, are in the fifth round courtesy of a comfortable win over Brentford last month.

When: Thursday, March 3, 20:15 GMT

Where: Goodison Park

Where to watch: ITV

Follow the game in our live centre

Who is the ref for Everton vs Boreham Wood?

Tony Harrington will take charge of the game, with Jonathan Moss on VAR duty.

Harrington has taken charge of just one Premier League game this season - a largely tame fixture between Brighton and Wolves.

He has done the bulk of his refereeing in the Championship (12 matches) in 2021/22, although this will be his third FA Cup game of the season.

Perhaps encouragingly for Boreham, Harrington was the official for arguably the FA Cup's biggest shock this season when League One Cambridge beat Newcastle at St James' Park.

Recent form

The form book makes grim reading for Everton, with the Toffees having lost three of their four Premier League games since Frank Lampard took over.

To be fair, that does include the 1-0 defeat to Man City last week - a game in which they were denied such an obvious late penalty that it warranted an apology from referees chief Mike Riley.

Boreham Wood are enjoying a good campaign in the National League, currently sitting in fourth place with at least three games in hand over all of those above them.

As such, their recent form is as good as you'd expect it to be. They have won two and drawn one of their last four matches, earning a 1-0 home win over Eastleigh last time out.

How they got to the fifth round

Everton

Hull City 2-3 Everton (Round three)

This one looked like a genuine banana skin for Everton, who were in the final stages of Rafa Benitez's ill-fated reign.

Things looked like they could get really ugly when Tyler Smith gave Hull a first-minute lead, but Demarai Gray and Andre Gomes turned things around for the Toffees before half-time.

A superb Ryan Longman strike sent the game into extra time before a fine long-range effort from Andros Townsend broke Hull hearts.

Everton 4-1 Brentford (Round four)

Frank Lampard made the perfect start to his tenure as Everton manager as they brushed aside Premier League rivals Brentford at Goodison Park.

Yerry Mina put them ahead in the first half, but it wasn't until after the break that the game really sprang into life.

Richarlison doubled Everton's advantage in the 48th minute, but an Ivan Toney penalty five minutes later gave Brentford hope.

Mason Holgate and Townsend settled it with goals in the last half-hour, though.

Boreham Wood

Boreham Wood had to go the long way round to get into the third round, just like all teams below the Championship.

This will be their sixth FA Cup tie this season, with wins against Barnet, Eastleigh and St Albans getting them into the third round.

Boreham Wood 2-0 AFC Wimbledon (Round three)

League One side AFC Wimbledon visited Boreham in round three and they found themselves on the wrong end of a cup shock.

In a classically absorbing cup tie, Boreham scored early through Tyrone Marsh and late courtesy of Adrian Clifton, with plenty of frantic full-blooded football between the two.

Bournemouth 0-1 Boreham Wood (Round four)

No one really fancied Boreham to go any further when they were drawn away to Championship high-flyers Bournemouth.

Just like in round three, though, they didn't seem to really care.

Mark Ricketts was the hero as he got the only goal of the game seven minutes before half-time.

Everton and Boreham Wood players in form

Everton haven't been in brilliant form generally and a lot of that is down to their attacking players struggling to produce.

Three of their last four goals have been scored by either defenders or own goals, but in terms of the FA Cup Andros Townsend has been a leading light.

The former Tottenham and Newcastle winger has scored in both FA Cup games Everton have played this season.

Boreham Wood haven't been in great goalscoring form themselves this season, with them failing to score in three of the five matches they have played since the Bournemouth result.

Tyrone Marsh bagged the winner against Eastleigh in their last game though, and him coming back into goalscoring form after his AFC Wimbledon heroics could be a good sign for the minnows.

Managers' thoughts

Everton manager Frank Lampard insists they won't be taking anything for granted against National League opposition.

Lampard said: "We treat them with the utmost respect which is why we'll prepare the same as any other game. I watched their game against Bournemouth and you can see the way they want to play."

Frank Lampard celebrates during his first Everton win vs Brentford

Meanwhile, Boreham Wood manager Luke Gerrard is hoping for just one more piece of FA Cup magic at Goodison Park, although he admits the whole situation feels almost surreal to him.

"I will be walking out at Goodison Park in front of 39,000 next to Frank Lampard," he said.

"One moment. That's all I want. For the town, the community, the club."

Predicted Everton vs Boreham Wood teams

Possible Everton starting line-up: Begovic; Patterson, Branthwaite, Keane, Mykolenko; Townsend, Gomes, Allan, Gordon; Richarlison, Rondon

Possible Boreham Wood starting line-up: Ashby-Hammond; Stevens, Evans, Stephens; Lewis, Comley, Raymond, Rees, Mendy; Marsh, Boden

Everton vs Boreham Wood prediction

The magic of the cup is all well and good, but it's only going to get you so far. If you're a National League side playing away to Premier league opposition with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs, the fifth round is probably as far as you go.

Let's go for a comfortable 3-0 win for Everton.