Two teams in contrasting form go head-to-head at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon as Everton take on Bournemouth.
This match looks very simple on paper – a Bournemouth defeat. The Cherries have now lost five of their last six away games and have won just one of their last eight. Additionally, they also failed to strengthen during the January transfer window whilst on-loan defender Nathan Ake returned to Chelsea. Bournemouth have conceded an incredible amount of goals in their last five matches – 2, 2, 3, 3, 3.
Everton are unbeaten since losing to Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on 19th December – four wins and two draws, putting them in 7th place and in the Europa League spots. The Toffees’ central midfield area looks particularly strong following the arrival of Morgan Schneiderlin whilst Gueye, statistically the best defensive midfielder this season, has recently returned from the African Cup of Nations to further strengthen the Everton core.
In recent weeks, Koeman’s side have looked good going forward having scored six goals in their last three matches. With Romelu Lukaku up front, accompanied by the likes of Barkley, Mirallas and rising star Tom Davies, Everton have many routes to goal at their disposal and really should be causing a leaky Bournemouth team problems here.
At 2/1, backing Everton to hand Bournemouth their seventh two-goal defeat away from home this season is the bet to go for.
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