Everton attempt to again deny Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea/Everton, 8pm, Sky Sports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Here are five superfacts about tonight’s FA Cup Final dress rehearsal between Everton and Chelsea:

1. Everton have drawn on both of their last two league visits to Stamford Bridge and held the Blues at Goodison Park earlier this season.

2. Despite that impressive run, The Toffees haven’t beaten Chelsea in 21 meetings and last beat them away in 1994.

3. Chelsea have won their three home league games under Guus Hiddink, and four of their overall five, each by a one-goal margin.

Posted: April 22nd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why Everton/Middlesboro is unlikely to feature many goals

Everton/Boro, Sunday 4pm, SetantaSports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Everton are unbeaten in five against Middlesbrough and have won three of the last four so the home win looks like the most likely outcome in this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final. Boro have upset the form book in recent weeks with wins against West Ham and Liverpool while the Toffees eliminated their Merseyside rivals and Aston Villa to reach this stage. If you aren’t keen on backing a winner then allow us to present the case for there being under 2.5 goals, which is available at 3/4 on Betfair:

» Fourteen of the last fifteen encounters between these two sides have finished with two or fewer goals being scored.

» The 4-0 loss to Tottenham was Middlesbrough’s first game in eight to have featured more than two goals.

Posted: March 5th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Everton are 5/4 to beat West Brom to nil with Paddy Power

Everton/WBA, Saturday 12.45pm, Sky S1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Everton aren’t losing at home and West Brom aren’t winning away so it’s hard to see why this game has been televised. The home win is rather short at 1/2 so the best value bet on offer is the Paddy Power’s 5/4 on Tim Howard and co shutting the visitors out. Here’s why that should happen:

» Everton are unbeaten in five Premier League home games and over that period they have conceded just one goal, a last-gasp equaliser scored by Arsenal striker Robin van Persie.

» The Toffees have won three of their last four league games at Goodison Park while keeping clean sheets.

» All three of those wins have come against teams in the bottom-half of the table too: Sunderland (3-0), Hull (2-0) and Bolton (3-0).

Posted: February 27th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Everton FA Cup wins against Prem teams are like buses…

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. Everton had gone ten years without knocking out a Premier League team in the FA Cup before eliminating Liverpool and Aston Villa, two of the top three, this year. The winner of Middlesbrough and West Ham’s fifth round replay won’t be looking forward to their quarter-final visit to Goodison Park.

2. The victory also marked the end of Aston Villa’s impressive sixteen match domestic unbeaten run and was Everton’s first win in six against Martin O’Neill’s side.

Posted: February 16th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Statistics on all four televised FA Cup fifth round games

Will we see more Tic Tac adverts than goals this time around?

Fulham, Chelsea and Manchester United may be under pressure to avoid FA Cup giantkillings but that is nothing compared to the scrutiny ITV’s coverage will suffer following their Merseyside derby blunder. Here’s our guide to the four games that will be shown on TV, subject to further “technical problems”:

Swansea v Fulham (12.45pm, Saturday, ITV1)
The last time these two sides met in 1997, they were both competing in the fourth tier of English football. Despite not winning away from home in the league all season, Fulham have won on the road in the last two rounds of the FA Cup. However, Swansea are unbeaten in fifteen games, nine of which have been draws, so Fulham’s best chance might be to take the game to a replay. Three of the last five meetings between the two sides in Wales have finished 2-2, which is 16/1 on 888sport, while both sides won one each 2-1.

Watford v Chelsea (5.30pm, Saturday, Setanta Sports 1)
It’s Lampard versus Lampard at Vicarage Road this weekend as the Chelsea midfielder comes up against the team where his dad works as a football consultant for former Blues reserve manager Brendan Rodgers. Chelsea have failed to win either of their two previous FA Cup away games against Watford, drawing one and losing one. Even if that record ends, it could be worth betting on the visitors conceding for the eighth straight cup match. The Hornets have lost just three of their last ten home games and have only failed to fire in one of those. Bet365 offer evens on both teams scoring.

Everton v Aston Villa (2.30pm, Sunday, Setanta Sports 1)

Posted: February 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Five reasons why Liverpool won’t win in ninety minutes

Everton/Liverpool, 8.10pm, ITV1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Liverpool looked to have finally got their season back on track by beating Chelsea but the high of that win has been tempered by bewilderment at Rafael Benitez’s decision to sell Robbie Keane without replacing him. Despite losing to Manchester United, Everton are in great form and even if they are eliminated tonight, here’s five reasons why we think Liverpool will need extra-time or penalties to do it:

1. The two sides couldn’t be separated in their two meetings last month, with both games finishing 1-1.

2. Liverpool have won just seven of their last seventeen domestic games, including just one of their last five. They have drawn their last two away games.

3. Everton have lost just one of their last six matches against Big Four opposition and have drawn at home with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal since losing to Liverpool in September.

Posted: February 4th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment