Why serious questions must be asked of Everton as Newcastle given unnecessary helping hand

Everton were handed a welcome tie against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup, but they seem intent on throwing away the home advantage.

The Toffees saw off David Moyes' former club Preston North End 4-0 in their opening game in the competition to set up a tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Charly Alcaraz scored the only goal of that tie at Hill Dickinson Stadium as Everton exacted revenge on the side that eliminated them at the same stage 12 months prior.

Everton's reward is an all-Premier League tie against Newcastle, who won this competition last year at Wembley.

While it is far from an easy fixture, it is certainly winnable for Moyes' side given Newcastle are below Everton in the league right now.

Landing a home tie is also welcome, but Everton risk upsetting supporters amid an update on the ticket allocation.

What allocation have Newcastle been given for Everton tie?

Everton fans are desperate for a cup run this season - as they are every season - and they may just get one.

Reaching the last 16 of the Carabao Cup hardly ticks that box; nor would getting 'only' to the quarter-finals.

Next up is Newcastle, and it has now been confirmed that the Geordies have been given a whopping allocation of 7,732 tickets.

That is some 15 per cent of Hill Dickinson Stadium.

FA rules state that away teams are eligible for 10 per cent of away tickets in cup competitions.

That explains why Hill Dickinson is often packed out with away fans for cup ties, such as against Sunderland earlier this year.

But the Toffees, for some reason or other, have opted to give Newcastle an additional five per cent on top of that

Instead of giving Newcastle up to 5,300 tickets, which is still a fairly sizeable amount, they will instead now get an extra 2,500 odd.

The only real suggestion as to why is they perhaps did not feel the home fans would sell out the rest of the ground.

What are biggest attendances at Hill Dickinson Stadium so far?

This match on 29 October, with a place in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup on the line, will surely be a sell out.

The 51,820 that watched Everton beat Crystal Palace 2-0 on the opening day is the record league attendance at the new state-of-the-art stadium.

A gate of 52,590 was reported for the Sunderland cup tie in January, so that may be a figure to aim towards here.

Sunderland were also given a 15-per-cent away allocation, so expect this Newcastle game to be in a similar region in terms of the attendance.