Everton v Watford
Premier League. Monday, December 10, KO 8pm. Live on Sky Sports
THIS is a match between two sides off the boil and without a win between them in seven – three for Everton and four for Watford.
On top of that the Toffees have netted once in three and Watford once in four. Form suggests a draw and even a 0-0 one but let's hope both sides throw the figures out of the window and give us a game to enjoy as Marco Silva welcomes his former club.
Two of the three meetings since the Hornets returned to the top flight have gone over 3.5 goals – a 3-2 win for Everton last season and 2-2 draw three seasons ago so there is hope for followers of goals.
Everton have been rueing bad luck recently having drawn with Newcastle at home despite dominating and losing 1-0 at Liverpool thanks to Jordan Pickford's misjudgment of Virgil van Dijk's sclaff.
Silva will be heartened by the fact his side gave it their best shot and missed a couple of good chances before Divock Origi stole it at the death.
Watford boss Javi Gracia has won just two of his last 11 and for that reason Everton are pretty warm favourites at 8-11 with 888sport while Watford are 19-5 and the draw 14-5
Everton have lost just one in 12 at home to the Hornets and siding with them but not with complete confidence – I'd much prefer evens or above.
Silva signed Richarlison from Watford for £35million and the Brazilian is struggling to show he's worth it. However, three of his seven goals have come in his last three home games and players love scoring against their old employers even if they don't always show it.
Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson are Everton's most likely scorers and I'm going for the Brazilian to score at any time at 27-20 with 888sport.
Troy Deeney has said he'll “smash” his former pal and he is 3-1 to net while Sigurdsson is 2-1.
Should be a more interesting game than stats suggest and I'm backing Everton and over 1.5 match goals at 11-10.
Recommended Bets
- Everton & over 1.5 match goals (11-10)
- Richarlison to score (27-20)
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