Everton v Norwich tips: Premier League preview and best bets
Norwich travel to Everton on Saturday afternoon still in search of their first point of the season. Jake Pearson has previewed the match, picking out his best bet.
Football betting tips: Premier League
1pt Norwich or Draw at 29/20 (Mansion Bet)
Rafael Benetiz’ controversial return to the Premier League looked to be going off without a hitch, his Everton side unbeaten in their first four matches, winning three.
Successive defeats have dampened the mood around Goodison Park however, a 3-0 hammering at Aston Villa last weekend – a game many of the Merseyside faithful would have fancied their side to win – was followed by a penalty shoot-out Carabao Cup exit to Championship side QPR.
And despite the Benitez love-in evident among large parts of the media, the truth is, five games into Carlo Ancelotti’s reign and Everton had actually made an even better start, topping the table with 13 points.
Add all this to the realisation that, now they are out of the Carabao Cup, this is already looking like another trophy-less season for the Toffees, as well as the recent revelations surrounding the mismanagement of the club, and the atmosphere at Goodison on Saturday could be far from jubilant.
Another defeat, particularly at the hands of lowly Norwich, would really put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Kick-off time: 15:00 BST, Saturday
Everton 4/7 | Draw 3/1 | Norwich 19/4
For Norwich, though, things couldn’t really have started much worse; bottom of the league after five games, without a win and having conceded a league-high 14 goals.
For all the pre-season talk about the Canaries being more prepared for life in the Premier League this time around, that has certainly not proved to be the case.
After five games of the season in 2019/20 Norwich had amassed six points and were 13th in the table, and given their eventual finishing position that campaign, this season is already beginning to look like a long one.
Norwich can point to the fixture list as being particularly harsh on them, facing Manchester City, Liverpool, Leicester and Arsenal in their four opening matches, but a 3-1 defeat at home to fellow newly-promoted Watford last weekend was a definite worry.
A 3-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday will have hardly helped morale around Carrow Road either, and in truth, it is difficult to find many positive about Daniel Farke’s side.
However, it is always darkest before the dawn and all that, and having looked at the opening fixtures prior to the beginning of the season, would Farke have really been expecting a better points return?
Perhaps, if including the Watford match, but after such a confidence-sapping start to the campaign, perhaps not.
This is another tough fixture for the Canaries, but every match from now on is a fresh start, a chance to kick start their season, and given the turmoil surrounding Everton recently, even if not necessarily on the pitch, this could be a good time to visit Goodison Park.
Much has been made about Everton’s positive start to the season, but four of their five opponents finished in the bottom half of the Premier League last season. There is a possibility that they have been overestimated.
Norwich meanwhile have suffered a bit of ill fortune, only losing by a single goal to both Leicester and Arsenal, and perhaps they have been underestimated.
Given no team won more away matches in the Sky Bet Championship than Norwich last season, and only five teams won fewer games on home soil than Everton in the top flight, Norwich may well fancy their chances on Merseyside.
The bookmakers give Norwich a measly 15% chance of winning at Everton; that seems low.
Whether or not you particularly fancy them to win is not really the question, whether or not you think they have a bigger chance of winning than 15% is.
The draw looks to be priced correctly, but by incorporating that into the bet we increase our chances of winning, and that means backing NORWICH OR DRAW at a price of 29/20 is the way to go in this fixture; albeit tentatively.
Everton v Norwich best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Norwich or Draw at 29/20 (Mansion Bet)
Score prediction: Everton 0-1 Norwich (Sky Bet odds: 12/1)
Odds correct at 0800 BST (23/09/21)
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