ADAM Goodwin (@agjournalism) previews Burnley's trip to Everton on Super Sunday.
Everton v Burnley | Sunday 1st October 2017, 14:15 | Sky Sports
Many thought Everton might have turned a corner after their 2-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend but a 2-2 draw against Apollon Limassol on Thursday ensures that the Toffees awful start to the season continues.
After drawing away from home at Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool, Burnley were unable to overcome newly-promoted Huddersfield at Turf Moor last Saturday.
Everton
Everton suffered another incredibly disappointing defeat on Thursday, succumbing to a 2-2 draw at home to Cypriote side Apollon. Apollon received a red card late on in the game but Ronald Koeman’s side conceded an 88th minute equaliser against the 10-men.
It is unsurprising to see Koeman under pressure after their tremendously poor start both in the league and in Europe. As I mentioned in my piece midweek, Everton have assembled a squad that’s worth the same as Bayern Munich’s, so for them to be lingering near the relegation zone is unacceptable.
The Toffees did manage a win in the Premier League last weekend, coming from behind to beat Bournemouth thanks to a brace from outcast Oumar Niasse. Everton obviously have some superb players and they’re not short of technical ability.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Davy Klassen, Wayne Rooney and Nikola Vlasic are brilliant ball players but I feel like they’re missing the pace and directness of the injured Yannick Bolasie.
Ademola Lookman is a similar player to Bolasie and I’m surprised the youngster hasn’t got more of an opportunity this season. The Toffees will need to utilise all their attacking talent to break down a resilient Burnley defence this Sunday.
Burnley
Burnley played out a 0-0 draw with Huddersfield last Saturday, and after their superb results away from at the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool, you have to wonder why they haven’t pushed on since those results.
They are without their summer signings Nahki Wells and Jonathan Walters on Sunday, and England keeper Tom Heaton will also not be involved. In the absence of Heaton, Nick Pope has stepped in and done a really good job. He made some decent stops against Huddersfield last weekend, most notably an excellent save down low from Laurent Depoitre.
The Clarets tend to fare pretty well when playing live on TV. Sean Dyche’s side have played 46 games on the telly recording 16 wins, 15 draws and 15 defeats. They’ll be hoping to improve that record when they face Everton this weekend.
The betting angle
Everton have disappointed plenty of fans and pundits so far this season as many expected the Toffees to challenge the top-six and maybe even the top-four. They’ve only managed four goals in six games in the Premier League this campaign and nothing I’ve seen suggests this will improve on Sunday.
Burnley have also had problems scoring goals. They managed three past Chelsea on the opening day of the season but since then, have only scored three in their last five matches. Chris Wood’s Burnley career has started off with a bang but I don’t know if the New Zealand international is capable of keeping up his fine form.
In their last five Premier League games, Everton and Burnley have scored a combined total of just six goals and I can’t see this total drastically improving come Sunday.
Under 2.5 goals and both teams not to score is 11/10 with Coral and I think that’s excellent value when these two goal-shy sides go head-to-head.
Best Bets
Everton v Burnley – Under 2.5 Goals and both teams not to score (11/10 Coral)
