A pair of struggling teams meet at Goodison Park on Sunday (2.15pm; TV: Live on Sky Sports) in the Premier League with both needing the points. Everton were widely expected to face another relegation battle after spending much of last season near the drop zone, but it’s surprising to see West Ham involved in the scrap.
Hammers supporters have become used to seeing their team challenge for the European places, but that looks an unlikely target this term. Everton sit in sixteenth while West Ham occupy the final relegation place in eighteenth. It’s a vital clash so let’s see where the bookies think this will go with our EFC vs WHUFC preview and betting tips.
Everton vs West Ham has survived the raft of recent postponements and respective league positions suggest this will be tight and that theory is backed up by the match result market. West Ham start as favourites but they are an odds against pick with most outlets offering 29/20 on the away win. Victory for Everton follows at a general 2/1 while the draw rounds this off at 11/5.
Everton have picked up four points from their opening six games of the season. They’ve yet to win but their list of four draws includes a satisfying 0-0 scoreline against old rivals Liverpool last time out. WHU also have four points but are two places below the Toffees due to an inferior goal difference. The Hammers’ solitary league win came via a 1-0 away victory at Aston Villa on August 28. It’s a poor form guide in both camps, but let’s now move on and look at the players who can make the difference on Sunday.
Everton’s new signing Neal Maupay is one of two joint favourites in the first goalscorer market. Both he, and West Ham’s Gianluca Scamacca are available at 6/1 with most of the top UK bookmakers. Michail Antonio follows at a best of 7/1 while Anthony Gordon and Jarrod Bowen are both available at 8/1. One of our favorite outside bets in this market is the Hammers’ defender Tomas Soucek. He opened his account for the season against Spurs last month and is way down at a tempting best price of 16/1.
Both Teams to Score could be a popular bet for this game, but it carries short odds of 3/4 in places. Those who want to consider the ‘no’ bet on BTTS can currently claim a top price of 11/10.
Next up is the Total Combined Goals bet where a stake Over the 2.5 line is met with odds of evens. Both sides may have been goal shy since the start of the campaign, but it’s rare to see this bet hit that mark. If you want to push a little further, Over 3.5 goals is on offer at 13/5. Those that want to follow the scoring trend for these two teams could opt for Under 2.5 goals which is at best odds of 4/5
Last in our round up are some Correct Score suggestions: The odds suggest a tight 90 minutes and there could be some interest in the 2-2 draw which is quoted at 14/1. A 2-1 win for the favourites West Ham is on offer at a top price of 10/1 while the same outcome in favour of Everton can be found at a best of 11/1.
Our EFC vs WHU Betting Tips Verdict for this Preview
West Ham aren’t exactly worthy favourites but neither side has impressed at the start of this term and both have drifted in the outright EPL betting odds. Form has marginally improved for David Moyes’ team and, since their last league match at the start of the month, the Hammers have won twice in Europe.
Could European competition be a factor? Everton have been resting since that 0-0 draw with Liverpool two weeks ago while West Ham were in action on Thursday night.
It all seems to point towards a draw and that’s the result that we’re going to commit to. Overall form since the start of the campaign is weak, but both sides have shown slight improvements in recent games. With that in mind, we expect them to cancel each other out so this preview is backing a share of the points for the first of our betting tips.
There could be a few goals in this one: The scoring statistics in either camp aren’t great but trends are there to be broken. West Ham have been more productive in front of goal while on their European adventures, so we’ll take Over 3.5 goals as the second bet.
Both Teams to Score was another option but this is too short to be of interest this time. Tomas Soucek for an anytime goal at 13/2 is another one to consider. This preview has settled on a high scoring share of the points as these two teams go head-to-head at Goodison Park, so these are our EPL game picks:
Matt Harris is a football writer for Just Bookies. Other sports in his portfolio of specialities include golf and cricket. Matt has contributed to innumerable large organisations and media brands. These include: Betfair, BetVictor, USA Betting & Unibet. 