Everton v Watford: Shot-shy Toffees to sneak win

Everton v Watford
Friday, 19:45

Everton

Everton's season is in danger of petering out and undoing the positivity that currently permeates the club.

Ronald Koeman's team are without a win in three, though they can at least claim to be in good form at home. Their most recent defeat to Chelsea ended a run of eight consecutive Premier League wins at Goodison Park and Everton will be keen to get back to winning ways against Watford.

The future looks bright for Everton, with a new stadium in the offing and plenty of money for Koeman to spend. It's likely that they will lose two of their best players in the summer with Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku set to leave, but those sales should generate the sort of figures that will enable Koeman to reshape the squad to his liking with a major shopping spree.

Koeman could certainly do with some reinforcements at a time when he has a number of players unavailable. Muhamed Besic, Yannick Bolasie, Seamus Coleman, Ramiro Funes Mori, Aaron Lennon, James McCarthy and Morgan Schneiderlin are all currently out.

Watford

If ever there was a team that Everton would want to meet in order to turn theirform around, it's Watford.

Having been safely positioned in mid-table for most of the season, the Hornets are now meandering towards its conclusion without much motivation. They have lost their last three games without scoring a goal.

A lack of firepower has been a problem under Walter Mazzarri, despite inheriting a strike partnership of Troy Deeney and the now departed Odion Ighalo, which proved to be prolific last season. The only teams to have scored less than Watford are the three in the relegation zone, which demonstrates the area in which the club must look to improve over the summer.

Mazzarri is another manager missing a number of players. Miguel Britos, Craig Cathcart, Jose Holebas, Younes Kaboul, Roberto Pereyra, Ben Watson and Mauro Zarate are all currently injured.

Ref Watch

Kevin Friend will officiate. Friend was very busy in his last outing, as he showed eight yellow cards in the match between Middlesbrough and Manchester City (four to each side).

Match Odds

Everton are the 1.49 favourites, with the draw at 4.90 and Watford at 8.00.

Though Everton deserve to be favourites, their price is a little too short considering their run without a win. For better value look towards Everton To Win To Nil at 2.60. The Toffees have not conceded in seven of their last ten victories and face a side struggling to score goals.

Those ten wins have seen Everton leading at half-time on six occasions, making the Half-Time/Full-Time double result another viable option at 2.22.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

Over 2.5 goals is the favourite at 1.72, with unders at 2.24.
The goals have generally flowed at Goodison, but with neither team having found the net in their last three outings, it's obvious that the value lies with there being less than three goals.

With both sides currently shot-shy, Under 1.5 Goals is another possibility at4.50.

To Score

Lukaku leads the betting at 1.70. He's got a great record at home, but once again it's too short a price for a player that hasn't scored in three and seems to be dreaming about his future elsewhere.

If you're going to back Lukaku it makes more sense to back him to be First Goalscorer at 3.75, in a game where goals could be scarce.


Recommended Bets
Back Everton to win to nil at 2.60
Back under 2.5 goals at 2.22