Everton have had very few corners this season and Dan Fitch is backing Aston Villa to win that statistical battle, as he previews the Saturday lunchtime kick off.
Everton have their first match since sacking Rafa Benitez when they host Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime.
Benitez was a strange appointment, if for no other reason than that the former Liverpool manager, was already an unpopular figure amongst Everton fans. To be fair to the Spaniard, his time at Goodison Park started promisingly enough, but the injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin early on in the season, was a big blow.
Now Everton have the familiar feeling of looking for a new manager. Duncan Ferguson will be in interim charge and will presumably be in the dugout for this game. The likes of Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard have been talked about as full-time appointments and it will be interesting to see whether the Toffees appoint a relatively young coach, or go for someone with more experience, at a time when the team are only six points clear of the relegation zone.
A 2-1 defeat at Norwich saw Benitez sacked. The likes of Jarrad Braithwaite, Fabian Delph and Allan failed fitness tests for that games. Tom Davies is definitely out with a hamstring problem, while Alex Iwobi is away on international duty.
Gerrard influence on show
Aston Villa have already gone through the process of replacing their manager this season and are now reaping the rewards.
Since Steven Gerrard took charge of Villa in November, they have started to climb towards the safety of mid-table. Last weekend they came back from being 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at home with Manchester United.
The Villa goalscorers highlighted just two of the things that Gerrard can bring to this job. For a young midfielder like Jacob Ramsey, there really couldn’t be a more inspirational figure to instruct him in the role than Gerrard. The equaliser was scored by Philippe Coutinho and with the greatest respect to Villa, there was no way that the Brazilian would have joined the club, if not for the chance to link up again with his former Liverpool teammate.
Trezeguet and Bertrand Traore are both away at AFCON right now and unavailable to Gerrard. Marvelous Nakamba is out with a knee injury, while Ezri Konsa and Leon Bailey are doubts.
Draw the sensible pick in closely priced game
Aston Villa are the very narrow favourites at 2.727/4, with Everton at 2.8815/8 and the draw at 3.412/5.
When match odds are calculated, form, general ability and home advantage are all considered. A new manager upsets this equation, even if it’s an interim figure like Ferguson.
The two teams could hardly be closer priced and this not only illustrates the uncertainty surrounding Everton, but also the fact that there is a decent amount of talent within the squad, even if it’s Villa that are the ones making major moves in the transfer market. This should be as evenly matched as the odds suggest and therefore backing the draw makes the most sense, at odds of 3.412/5.
Everton will take time to turn corner
Despite the fact that Everton did not always find goals easy to come by under Benitez, they come into this game having found the net in each of their last seven outings. They also conceded in each of these games, so both teams to score could offer some value at 1.845/6.
While Ferguson is likely to try to implement fresh ideas, he’s unlikely to be able to change things overnight. No Premier League team has had less corners than Everton this season and you can back Villa to win the corners match bet at 2.0811/10.
Source: BetFair Tips
