Christian, you have Belgium fries at Selhurst Park?
By Antony Jordan,
The seventh round of Premier League football from this 2016/17 season kicks off at Goodison Park on Merseyside this Friday night as Everton v Crystal Palace. The Toffees have a chance to into 2nd place with a victory. To do this they will need to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth last weekend against a Palace side that has won three EPL games in a row and can go fifth in the league with victory.
The game should be a great start to the weekend and we’re previewing this match with online sportsbook Pinnacle.com to provide our best EPL pick in this Friday Night Football game.
Match Odds in the Pinnacle Sportsbook:
Team News:
The home side are missing two big players in left back Leighton Baines and midfielder James McCarthy for this Friday night match as both have failed to sufficiently recover from their injuries, but Ronald Koeman will be happy that key striker Romelu Lukaku, who has netted four times for Everton in September, has recovered from a toe injury.
Palace have many more injuries to contend with as defenders Scott Dann and Papa Souare, as well as attackers Loic Remy and Jonathan Benteke, are all out of the game with injuries. However, with the first three having missed recent matches and Benteke not yet having joined his older brother in the first team yet, they will be confident as they bring a four match unbeaten run into this match.
Form Guide:
The Toffees come into this match having failed to win in two matches as they were beaten 2-0 at home to second tier side Norwich in the EFL Cup before being edged out at Bournemouth last weekend, when victory would have seen them second in the league. Taking the EPL only they had won four matches in a row before last weekend and while they are the joint lowest scorers in the top eight sides in the division, their total of four goals conceded in six Premier League games sees them have the second best defensive record in the top flight.
The Eagles will be looking to smash the Everton backline this Friday night though and with the signing of Christian Benteke they appear to have turned their fortunes around in front of goal. They were beaten 1-0 by West Brom and Tottenham in their first two matches but a 90th minute leveller from Scott Dann at home to Bournemouth in game three of the season has seen their form swing upwards. They have taken nine points from the last nine available with a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough, a 4-1 home win over Stoke and a last gasp comeback from two goals down to win 3-2 at Sunderland last weekend.
Head-to-head:
Both meetings between these sides last season saw the teams share the spoils as a 1-1 draw on this ground where Scott Dann and Romelu Lukaku bagged the goals was followed by a 0-0 draw in South London. Everton won the previous match before these two games 1-0 at Selhurst Park, but there were two 3-2 wins for Palace at Goodison Park in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons so The Eagles will know that they can win on this ground. Do they have enough firepower to break through though?
Bets:
Match Winner – The home side are the odds-on favourites to triumph this Friday night and deservedly so thanks to their excellent start to life under new manager Ronald Koeman. However, with Palace on a roll right now and goals are coming fast and furious for them we feel that they offer some excellent value this match and we favour them on the handicap market – Palace +0.5 and +1 @ 2.02 with Pinnacle.com.
Over/Under – Pinnacle have set the line at Over and Under both 2.5 and 3 goals for this Everton match despite the lack of goals in the last three meetings between the sides the fact that five of the last six clashes on this ground going back more than two decades have seen at least three goals we feel that this could be an exciting match with plenty of chances at goal – Over 2.5 and 3 goals @ 2.08 in the Pinnacle Sportsbook.
Of the two bets, we favour goals and our top EPL pick from this Everton v Crystal Palace game is back Over 2.5 and 3 goals at odds of 2.08 at Pinnacle.