Trying to secure Premier League survival, Everton travel to take on Wolves on Saturday (3pm). The visitors are far from safe, but can they pick up a much-needed result against home players who have little pressure on their shoulders now that they are safe? This WWFC vs EFC preview, with its betting tips, plans to answer that.
It has been anything but an outstanding campaign for Saturday’s hosts, Wolves, who underwent a managerial change midway through the season when things went a little sour for Bruno Lage. Though in the end, things have turned out OK, as Julen Lopetegui has steadied the ship, steering Wolves to clear safety with games in hand, which in all honesty, is not something that seemed guaranteed a few months ago.
Wolves do come here off the back of losing to Manchester United last time out, though they picked up an encouraging win over Aston Villa when last in action at Molineux, while they have impressed in general at home in recent weeks. On that basis, they ought to approach this fixture feeling confident.
The visitors may not be so confident after losing to Manchester City last time out. Of course, they were expected to lose that game, and they ought not to be judged too harshly, though a resounding defeat does not exactly inspire confidence when you are fighting for Premier League survival. Fortunately, the visitors should be able to draw on what was an excellent away win last time out on the road, and if they can channel some of the same energy that saw them beat Brighton down on the south coast, then they could easily get a much-needed result. We’ll soon find out.
Home where the heart is
In recent times, home has very much been where the heart is for Lopetegui’s men, who’ve won each of their last four games in front of a home crowd, scoring goals and conceding zero. Yes zero. The hosts have now kept four clean sheets on the bounce at home, so it’s likely that they’ll fancy their chances of keeping the Toffees quiet.
It is not as if WWFC have merely capitalised on generous fixturing either, as they have beaten teams such as Aston Villa and Brentford, both of which are currently in the top half. In fact, each of the four teams that Wolves have beaten at Molineux in recent times is currently above them in the table.
Ever since that managerial change in November, the men in orange have been very tough to beat at home, losing just one home EPL game against teams outside of the current top three, beating the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool too.
Toffees digging deep on the road
Sean Dyche’s men have not exactly been winning with regularity away from the comforts of home, but they have been getting stuck in and griding out a few results. Anyone with eyes could see that it was just “one of those games” when they trounced Brighton last time out, and they certainly benefited from good fortune at times. Even before they struck gold on the south coast, they were getting results on the road, drawing away against Chelsea, Palace, and Leicester since late March.
The problem for Everton is that they give too much away. They have conceded two or more goals in all but two of their travelling Premier League games in 2023. Even last time out, when they conceded just once against Brighton, they gave away an awful lot and were it not for good fortune, probably would have conceded three or four.
Wolves on top
Recent renewals of this fixture have very much gone the way of the hosts, who have now won three games on the spin against the Toffees. They did the double over Saturday’s visitors last season, winning by two goals to one at this venue. Earlier in the current campaign, they won by the same scoreline at Goodison Park, coming out on top thanks to a late goal from Rayan Ait Nouri, who now hasn’t been seen in a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt since March.
However, EFC do have some relatively recent experience of winning at Molineux, emerging victorious by two goals to one back in January of 2021. Interestingly, three of the last five renewals of this fixture have ended with a 2-1 scoreline.
Hosts WWFC offer value
The Toffees are marginal favourites in the early betting with the bookies, and that’s probably largely down to the fact that they need to win. However, needing to win and winning are two very different things.
At the odds, don’t be put off betting on the hosts to win, though the best option may just be ‘Wolves to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ at odds of 8/5.
As touched on in this preview above, the Everton back-line, containing the likes of Michael Keane and Yerry Mina, both of whom have been rash and mistake prone this term, finds it very tough to keep the door shut. They have conceded two or more in five out of seven on the road in the Premier League since the turn of the year.
At the same time, the hosts have done a relatively good job of netting goals at home. Wolves recently scored twice at home against both Brentford and Crystal Palace, while if you go back slightly further, they scored twice at home against Leeds and Liverpool. They also notched twice in the reverse fixture at Goodison Park.
With the pressure off, Wolves’ attacking players could quite easily enjoy themselves and the current odds, it is worth betting that they do. After all, they are up against a dodgy visiting back-line, one that had the pressure piled on last weekend, and one that has conceded at least twice in three out of three away against teams inside the bottom eight in 2023. So for the WWFC vs EFC betting tips for this preview, we settle with this one:
- Wolves to Score Over 1.5 Goals @ 8/5 with BetVictor. That is slightly better odds than the next best of 6/4 with Bet365 and William Hill.
Bradley Gibbs is an experienced football writer. He is an expert analyst on Premier League, and all global football leagues & tournaments, for Just Bookies. Bradley has been published by many respected outlets, including USA Betting and the Racing & Football Outlook. He has also written betting strategy guides.