Leighton Baines has warned his Everton team-mates to expect a totally different Dynamo Kiev side when they meet in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday evening.
The Toffees travel to Eastern Europe holding a 2-1 advantage from the first leg after goals from Steven Naismith and Romelu Lukaku saw them take the honours at Goodison Park.
However, Baines’ previous experiences in Europe indicate that it is likely to be a much more difficult task at the Olympic Stadium.
The England defender was part of the Everton team that faced Metalist Kharkiv in 2007 and despite winning 3-2 in Ukraine, Baines felt that they seemed much more comfortable when playing on home soil.
Ahead of the match, the 30-year-old has told his team-mates they will need to be truly on their game on Thursday, otherwise they could well find themselves crashing out of the tournament.
“I expect it to be a tougher game over there, it always is,” he told the Liverpool Echo. “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.
He added: “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.”
Baines’ misgivings are reflected in the betting, with Dynamo currently the slight favourites for the win at 2.04, with the draw at 3.20 and the Toffees priced at 3.61 to get the result.
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