Everton V Blackburn Rovers – Sunday 20th September

Everton V Blackburn Rovers

Kick-Off: Sunday 20^th September – 15:00 GMT

Venue: Goodison Park

Everton

League Position: 19th

Recent Form: LLWL

Everton fans have had to endure a disappointing start to the new league campaign which has seen them win just won of their opening four fixtures, with even that win being by the skin of their teeth. Their first win of the campaign came in the form of a narrow and somewhat fortunate 2-1 victory at home to Wigan Athletic, a side who were suffering a dip in form themselves at the time. However, Everton failed to seize on that fine result with the Toffee’s going to lose their corresponding fixture 2-1 away at Fulham. That’s now the third time manager David Moyes has seen his side suffer defeat and the pressure will now be on both players and manager to amend the dreadful start.

It doesn’t take a genius to pinpoint where Everton’s problems are and that’s in their lack of creative players. The absence of Mikel Arteta who, so we hear, is on the mend, but he’s been dearly missed with the forwards craving some reliable service. Tim Cahill scored his first goal of the season in their 2-1 defeat away at Fulham while Louis Saha and Jo have been struggling to find their goalscoring form of old.

Were Everton to fall to their fourth defeat of the season, Everton could find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table. They’ve already got themselves into the relegation zone but things could take a dramtic turn for the worse were the players to put in another lacklustre performance.

Blackburn Rovers

League Position: 14th

Recent Form: LLDW

Blackburn avoided going on a lengthy run without a Premiership win when they eased their way past Wolves last Saturday, beating Mick McCarthy’s side 3-1 at Ewood Park. Now ‘Big Sam’ takes his Blackburn squad to Goodison Park where Everton’s fortunes are still at a low and Sam Allardyce is the perfect man to capitalise on any team with apparent frailties.

Blackburn also made a terrible start to the season, losing their opening two fixtures to Man City and Sunderland. However, those were extremely tough opening fixtures and they soon made amends for their poor start by picking up points in their following two home encounters, drawing 0-0 with West Ham and defeating Wolves 3-1 at the weekend, both at Ewood Park. However, Blackburn will be without the large home support and it could be a case of all man on deck as a wounded Everton aim to dish out their frustrations on Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn will set up in a defensive manner, looking to hit Everton either on the break of punish them via set pieces. We feel their best hopes of attaining a result will come in the form of set pieces as Blackburn do posses some players with a considerable heigh advantage.

Head-to-Head:

Everton W: 3 Blackburn Rovers W: 2 Draws: 5

The head-to-head record would indicate that this will be a very close affair, with perhaps the odd goal deciding who walks away from Merseyside the happier. Blackburn won when the pair last met at Goodison Park, winning a 3-2 thriller last season. Rovers also recorded a rare league double over Everton by beating Everton in the corresponding fixture at Ewood Park, 1-0.

Match Verdict: Draw – 5/2 Bet365

Many will stick Everton down in their weekend accumulators but we fail to see the appeal in backing a side that has one just once since the start of the season at odds on. Chances may be hard to come by, especially as Blackburn will put everyone behind the ball. Blackburn could even sneak a surprise away win here and make it back-to-back victories at Goodison. If Everton don’t make an early breakthrough than it could be squeaky bum time for loyal Everton fans.

Match Odds:

Everton – 17/20 VictorChandler

Blackburn Rovers – 4/1 PaddyPower

Draw – 5/2 Bet365

SoccerBetting Tip: BOTH team to SCORE – 4/5 PaddyPower