Everton vs Southampton
(Leighton Baines is on top form just like many of his Everton colleagues)
We've had a lot of love for Everton this year tipping them up as our Premier League handicap bet & reckoning they could get a quicker start than their usual poor early season form, they've duly obliged so far & they could give Southampton the runaround at Goodison Park this Saturday. Nigel Adkins' side have been shambolic defensively even allowing for the fact they've played some good sides so far with 15 goals conceded for an average of 3 per game & it won't get easier against an Everton side that can mix it up with physicality & class in attack.
Southampton fans may be feeling a little more positive after winning twice in the last week, putting their first points on the board after coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-1 & then taking care of Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup even whilst resting players - we think it will take a lot more in this one though as Everton are a big step up. Crucially here Southampton's style of play that helped them unsettle Manchesters City & United just shouldn't cause Everton the same problems as they have good central defenders who can cope with Rickie Lambert physically & decent fullbacks who are well protected too to stop Southampton's crosses ever getting in the box.
Everton didn't rest quite so many as Southampton in the week when getting knocked out by Leeds but that loss shouldn't be much of a blow as they look to get as high a league position as possible, Marouane Fellaini continues to be just about the hottest player around & they've even got Anichebe scoring goals! Nikica Jelavic is coming back to fitness & could start here, adding another string to their bow & Leighton Baines & Steven Pienaar will provide him & Fellaini with excellent service as usual. Everton should score & we can see them doing so more than once, their defence should cope better than Villa's youngsters did last Saturday & we fancy them with a -1 goal handicap at odds of 5/4. For a goalscorer bet you could do worse than taking the 5/1 for Leighton Baines to score anytime, he bagged one against Swansea & is Everton's penalty taker plus many free kicks, Southampton gave penalties away against United & City & although those were saved, Baines would almost certainly not be so timid as the takers in those games.
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Sheffield Wednesday
(Gingle-Gangle: Tongo Doumbia is a class act at Wolves)
In the Championship we see another form side with Wolves who've won their last three in the league & won't be too concerned with the beating they took at the hands of Chelsea in midweek - they started with 10 different players to their win against Peterborough on Saturday. After a reasonable start to the season it's been all downhill for Sheffield Wednesday as they haven't been able to get it going at home or on the road, a porous defence doesn't help with them having conceded two or more goals in 9 of their 10 competitive games this season. Being poor defensively is not a good idea when playing Wolves as they have one of their Championship's best strikers in Sylva Ebanks-Blake who is perfect at this level with his strength, balance & shot power being key attributes.
Wolves deserved to finish bottom of the top flight last year as they hadn't assembled a Premier League style set of players, it did however mean they were well suited to take on the different challenge of football in this division. The Midlands club have also done a mean piece of business by picking up Mali's Tongo Doumbia on loan with a view to a permanent signing - Arsenal were said to be looking at the midfielder last year & he's looked a class apart at times this season. We think Wolves should win this one with home advantage & odds of 10/11 are fair but an even more certain bet for our money is over 2.5 goals at 8/11, Wolves have kept clean sheets in their last two league games but against poor sides (Ipswich & Peterborough) & Wednesday do hold an attacking threat, Wanderers even seemed a bit shaky when 2-0 up on Leicester & this could be a goal fest.
Tranmere Rovers vs Brentford
Talking of form sides, there aren't many in better nick than Tranmere Rovers at the moment - they've won 6 from 8 league games, have a perfect home record & have scored the most (21) & conceded the least (4) goals in League One, they have a test today in Brentford but there's good reason to think they'll overcome it.
(Tranmere's Andy Robinson has found his shooting boots with 7 goals already this season)
Brentford have made a decent start themselves & have bagged 12 points from their opening 8 games, they have however not won away from home, grabbing 3 draws from 4 road games & we were less than impressed when watching them huff & puff away to Leyton Orient three games back. Brentford will have to go some to stop Tranmere's Jake Cassidy, the tall 19 year old has returned on loan from Wolves again this year after making a big impact at the end of last season & has bagged 7 times already with those coming in their last 5 games. It should also be noted that Brentford have only played one team that currently sit in the top half of the table (a 2-2 draw with Walsall) so this is a big step up in terms of quality of opposition for them & we reckon they'll come up short against Tranmere & their +17 goal difference - take the huge odds against bet of 11/10 on Tranmere.
Selections:
Everton to beat Southampton with a -1 goal handicap at 5/4 (Ladbrokes)
Leighton Baines to score anytime at 5/1 (William Hill)
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Sheffield Wednesday over 2.5 goals at 8/11 (Various)
Tranmere Rovers to beat Brentford at 11/10 (General)
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