iBet: Expect Everton to win at Goodison tonight

Everton vs Newcastle, Premier League, kick off 8pm, Sky Sports 1

Back Everton at 5/6

Everton didn’t just beat Manchester United on the opening weekend of the season – they deserved to do so, having more goal attempts, more shots on target and bossing 62% of the possession.

After despatching Aston Villa readily in their second game, it was a surprise to see them lose to West Brom at The Hawthorns – their first Premier League defeat in 11 fixtures. But it could be back to business tonight in front of their home fans. Everton have the look of a team that could feasibly go the whole season undefeated at Goodison. Indeed they have won eight of their last ten games there. Marouane Fellaini is unplayable on his day, Nikica Jelavic is a deadly goalscorer, and Phil Jagiela and Steve Pienaar are playing the best football of their careers. More importantly they fight for each other.

Newcastle were a tad lucky in my opinion to beat Spurs 2-1 at home on opening day – the Londoners hit the woodwork twice, had twice as many efforts on goal and threw the game away with a soft penalty. They didn’t come out of the traps against Chelsea (lost 2-0) and were held 1-1 at home against struggling Villa. I think Alan Pardew’s men will find this season more of a struggle than last, when they had something of the surprise element about them. David Moyes knows where the Newcastle threats are, and there is no better manager at snubbing them out.

Advices

Only Liverpool V Everton (20) has witnessed more red cards than this fixture (13) in Premier League history. Since August 1998, this match-up has seen more penalties (13) than any other in the Premier League. You can get 3/1 (Betfair) that a spot kick will be awarded tonight, and 11/2 for a sending off.

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