Everton vs. Bournemouth and Pick to Win
Date:Saturday, September 24th 2016
Where: English Premier League Bournemouth, UK
by Keith, Professional Soccer/Football Handicapper, Predictem
Match Odds: Everton 6/5, Bournemouth 27/10, Draw 5/2
Moneyline: Everton +120, Bournemouth +270, Draw +250
Over/Under Best Market: OVER 2.5 66/67 (-101)
Bournemouth enters on a two game skid, losing to both Manchester City and Preston North End in corresponding national competitions. Bournemouth was demolished by Man City 4-0 in English Premier League action, last Saturday only to follow this result with a Football Association loss against Preston North End 3-2. Everton has been on a bit of a roll, they sit in second on the English Premier League table with 13 points. The Toffees have resurrected their football program after meandering and mingling in the middle of the table for the past couple seasons. The Liverpool-based club is used to competing in the top half of the table and established a reputation as a perennial contender for European tournament qualification. The Toffees seem to be heading back in that direction with their recent run of wins before losing to Norwich City most recently 0-2 in Football Association action. The results fostered in Football Association play mean nothing as they are just exhibition games to these clubs for national bragging rights.
Bournemouth has proliferated some lackluster results. As we have highlighted recently, this team can play with the big boys, as the South England club challenged the 2015/16 would be champion Leicester City in a dramatic affair last year. Bournemouth would take a 2-0 lead against the Foxes before they would give up three goals in a theatric come-from-behind win orchestrated by the future league champions. Nevertheless, Bournemouth has yielded a far different performance portfolio this season as Manchester City and Manchester United have both had their way with them.
Despite the impressive numbers that Everton has put up, these results were yielded against bottomfeeding football clubs. Everton has thumped the likes of Sunderland and Middlesborough. Middlesborough is a newly promoted team to the English Premier League and currently sits in the middle of the table. As for Sunderland, they barely escaped relegation in the 2015-16 season and in light of their leap from death, sit at the bottom of the league table with just one measly point. Evertons results are a bit inflated and had they not fallen recently to Norwich City in an inconsequential fixture, they may have actually been a heavy favorite in this contest despite being the road team. Everton typically boasts a robust home pitch advantage when they are at Goodison Park. On the contrary, the Toffees have been susceptible to many defeats on the road over the years and this has been instrumental in Everton failing to ascend to the next level in the English Premier League.
Everton has some talent in their ranks, most notably Romelu Lukaku, Ross Barkley, Ashley Williams and Leighton Baines. All of these players have earned starting roles on their respective national squads, including Belgium, England and Wales. Nevertheless, we cant help but imagine the stock in Everton being through the ceiling despite the Toffees having no truly impressive results to back up public propensity. So far we have seen a steady stream of action come in on the Toffees as this contest seems to be another scheduled win for the Blue team from Liverpool. However, these expectations and the heavy public lean almost always signals that a let-down might be on the horizon. With this being said, both teams like to score goals and given the fact with just three goals we are virtually at evens, it is a solid quality play in Total markets. Everton has the offensive weapons to light up scoreboards and seemingly Bournemouth has the firepower as well when primed. If at nothing else and this game gets ugly, there is likely enough goals on the table here to procure a safe cover on our part. Thus our play is the draw and the OVER 2.5 market as we stand to take back 3.49 net units if both plays hit.
Everton Recent Form
L Norwich City 0-2
W Middlesborough 3-1
W Sunderland 3-0
W Stoke City 1-0
W Yeovil Town 4-0
Bournemouth Recent Form
L Preston North End 3-2
L Manchester City 0-4
W West Bromwich Albion 1-0
D Crystal Palace 1-1
W Morecambe 2-1
Keith’s Prediction for the Game: Draw 5/2 (+250) and OVER 3.5 11/8 (+137)