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Everton v Stoke Premiership Prediction
Sunday, 04 December 2011
Barclays Premier League
Everton v Stoke, 15:00
Author: Thomas Rooney 01/12/2011
Everton go into this weekend’s fixture with Stoke City looking to make it three Premier League wins in succession.
David Moyes’ men have beaten Wolves and Bolton in their last two games to climb to 9th in the Premier League and many might argue that they are back in business in terms of their form.
Up until the win against Wolves, Everton were extremely inconsistent and it was proving relatively frustrating for their fans. There were narrow defeats, a lack of goals and an all too familiar feeling in terms of the Toffees Premier League start.
The two wins need to be the start of a better run though. Following this clash against Stoke, they face Norwich, Swansea and Sunderland before the turn of the year, so there is an opportunity to go on an unbeaten run.
Having said that, there is perhaps only so far Everton can go this year. There is a clear gap between the top seven and the rest – Arsenal are currently seven points clear of 8th placed Aston Villa – so Everton simply need to make sure they are the ‘best of the rest’.
Moyes is an ambitious manager though and would love to push the top six, but at the moment, Everton should ensure they get into 8th position and then perhaps reassess their ambitions in the New Year.
As for Stoke City, they were relieved to end their four game losing streak last weekend and will hope this is the start of a better run for them. Rather ridiculously, there were talks of crisis at the Britannia Stadium recently, but the 3-1 win over Blackburn was fully deserved and a more accurate assessment of where Tony Pulis’ team are at.
They are only a point behind eighth placed Aston Villa after all, so a decent couple of results in the build up to Christmas and they are back in the top half of the Premier League where they believe they belong.
One thing they do have to do is improve their form after a European game. They are of course new to European football, but they need to get used to going again in the Premier League after a tough Europa League clash.
This will be the case for them at Goodison Park this weekend too. They are at home in Europe on Thursday evening though, so this will make things slightly easier.
Overall, this is a really tough one to call. Both teams have won their most recent game and will hope it leads into a positive and productive December. A score draw – with the lead changing a couple of times – seems to be a decent shout.
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Football betting tip: Draw @ 12/5 with Bet365 - £200 deposit bonus
Correct score prediction: Everton 2:2 Stoke @ 18 with Betfair
Watch our Football Video Podcast on the Everton v Stoke match by Thomas Rooney and Pete South including their predictions.