Which club are the biggest basket case in the Barclays Premier League? Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur may be setting the pace when it comes to chaos and comedy on and off the pitch, but plenty of Everton supporters will tell you that their club are not far behind in the meltdown stakes.

Everton were outclassed by Liverpool in the league at Goodison Park on Saturday and were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park last week. So far, so bad. Bill Kenwright, the chairman, wants to sell the club because he is not a billionaire, David Moyes's contract runs out at the end of the season and the manager has not signed a new one, and the club's controversial plans to build a new stadium in Kirkby are in limbo. It is difficult to see how things could get worse, unless Moyes's team fail to see off Standard Liège in Belgium this evening and Joe Kinnear pitches up next month with an interim manager's contract stuffed into his back pocket. “We hope we're only 90 minutes away from the good times again,” Moyes said. “That's the plan.”

Everton's plan during the summer was to add more quality to their squad and build on their fifth-place finish in the Premier League last season. Some plan that turned out to be. Moyes broke the club's transfer record to sign Marouane Fellaini from Liège for £15million on transfer deadline day, but all that the Belgian wonder boy has proved is that Everton miss the calming influence of Lee Carsley, the unspectacular midfield player who was allowed to join Birmingham City during the summer.

The Uefa Cup could have been a welcome distraction from domestic problems, but Everton's luck this season has been so poor that they were drawn to play the champions of Belgium in the first round of the competition. Liège went close to knocking Liverpool out of the Champions League in August and they left Goodison Park with two away goals after a draw in the first leg two weeks ago.

“We know a [0-0 or 1-1] draw for them will suffice and that we have to win the game by a goal - some way or other we have to do that,” Moyes said. “But we also know how quickly things can change. That's what this game can do for you and that's what we're hoping will happen.”

Having done the hard part at Goodison, Liège are confident of knocking out Everton and will have a spring in their step after beating Anderlecht 2-1 on Friday. Laszlo Boloni's team are top of the Belgian first division and the Romanian manager is so pleased with his players that he cancelled training on Monday and took them tenpin bowling instead. Moyes, meanwhile, was having clear-the-air talks with his players at Everton's training ground after the defeat by Liverpool.

Joseph Yobo, Joleon Lescott and Mikel Arteta were said to have been singled out for criticism after substandard performances and some senior players wanted to know whether Moyes would be at the club next season. The manager has been linked with Newcastle United and Celtic while negotiations over a new deal have taken longer than expected, a situation that Moyes admitted may have adversely affected the team.

Amid all the doom and gloom it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Everton have Yakubu Ayegbeni, a forward who can seemingly conjure goals out of thin air; Kenwright, an owner who really does support the club; and Moyes, a manager who is one of the best in the business. Now all they need to do is beat Liège.

“Standard have shown that they are a real quality side with their performances, so it will be a difficult challenge,” Moyes said. “We always knew it was going to be tough anyway after watching them almost put Liverpool out of the Champions League.”