Saturday Premier League 3pm Kick-Offs: Back the Toffees to ease past Terriers

Everton [1.54] v Huddersfield [8.2]; The Draw [4.3]

Everton have made a very solid start to the season, remaining unbeaten, scoring plenty of goals, and progressing to the next round of the EFL Cup. But boss Marco Silva isn’t entirely happy.

And that’s because instead of sitting mid-table on five points, Silva believes the Toffees could easily be joint top of the table with maximum points. Everton led twice against Wolves on the opening weekend of the season but failed to win, and they were 0-2 up at Bournemouth last Saturday but again could only manage a draw. In both of those games Everton were reduced to 10 men.

Scoring goals isn’t a problem for Silva’s men; his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation seems to be working a treat in attack with Richarlison, Gylfi Sigurdsson, and Theo Walcott operating just behind lone-striker Cenk Tosun. All four have started the season very brightly, and although Richarlison is suspended for this game, his countryman Bernard is expected to step in and could easily be equally effective.

Everton have scored at least two goals in all four of their fixtures this term and I fancy they’ll score at least two or three against Huddersfield when the sides meet at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The Terriers have made a very slow start to their own campaign, losing 0-3 at home to Chelsea, conceding six in a defeat at Manchester City, and last week failing to beat winless and goalless Cardiff on home soil. They even conceded two to Championship outfit Stoke in an EFL Cup defeat in midweek.

So put simply Silva’s men should be far too strong for Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon, and if they do score at least two or three, then covering the -1 goal handicap at [2.64] will have a fantastic chance of landing.

Crystal Palace [2.02] v Southampton [4.4]; The Draw [3.55]

Roy Hodgson may well be another manager who is disappointed with his side’s start to the season. In fact, there’s no ‘may well’ about it, the former England boss has been incredibly frustrated with Palace’s last two league defeats.

On the plus side the Eagles have three points more than they did at this stage of last season thanks to an opening-weekend win over Fulham, and they performed with credit in their 0-2 home loss to Liverpool; a game in which Hodgson was furious with some of the officiating.

Palace then went to unbeaten Watford last Sunday and frustrated Hodgson again, squandering two glorious chances to take the lead before conceding twice. They rallied well, but could only manage one goal in reply through their talisman Wilfried Zaha.

But performance wise Palace look like a very solid outfit, and one that will easily be capable of finishing mid-table this term. They really ought to break into the top 10 if truth be told, but to do that they’ll need to be strong at Selhurst Park, starting with a victory over Southampton on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints got their first win of the season in the EFL Cup in midweek, winning 1-0 at Brighton, but in the Premier League they look like a team that could struggle to me. A lack of goals could again be their Achilles heel, and although they’ve scored two goals in three games so far – both in 2-1 defeats – they didn’t really create many more clear cut chances despite getting in some promising positions, not least when the could only manage a 0-0 draw at home to Burnley a few weeks ago.

Danny Ings will surely be Southampton’s main goalscoring threat this term, but he may well take a couple of months to get back to full match fitness and sharpness, and as things stand right now I believe Palace have the better group of players, and should make home advantage tell in this encounter.

West Ham [2.6] v Wolves [3.0]; The Draw [3.5]

I’m not quite as pessimistic as others about West Ham this term; true, they’ve made a slow start to the campaign, a very slow start in fact, but I’m still impressed with some of their transfer business and Manuel Pellegrini is a title-winning manager a cut above some of the Hammers’ most recent bosses.

I fancy the Hammers will come good, and a mid-table finish should be well within their capabilities.

But understandably conceding goals has been a big problem at the start of the season. A new manager, working with a group of players for the first time, and that group of players welcoming in half a dozen new signings; well it’s very difficult to hit the ground running unless you’re a top class outfit.

West Ham have conceded nine league goals in three matches so far this term, and they even conceded to AFC Wimbledon in midweek before eventually winning 3-1. It means that all of the Hammers’ games this term have gone over the 2.5 goals mark, and 75% of them have gone over the 3.5 goals mark.

And on Saturday Pellegrini’s men welcome an attack-minded Wolves side to the London Stadium – backing Over 3.5 Goals at [3.4] has to be the call.

Nuno Santo‘s men have already been involved in a four-goal game this term, and although only two goals were scored in each of the matches against Leicester and Man City both of those games could quite easily have had double that number.

Wolves love to attack – and they’re pretty good at it with some quality players at their disposal – while they leave plenty of opportunities at the back. This could be a highly entertaining affair.

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