EPL Betting Preview: Bournemouth vs. Everton

October 7, 2023

Sean Dyche's Everton take on fellow strugglers Bournemouth at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Saturday, 7 October 2023.

The Toffees claimed a crucial 1-0 home win over Bournemouth on the final day of last season to save their Premier League status.

Just seven weeks into the season and we can already call this match a six-pointer as both sides are desperate to avoid a situation when relegation is unavoidable.

Everton Betting Preview (-102 at MyBookie)

The Toffees claimed their first league win of the season when they beat Brentford 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium a fortnight ago. However, they are yet to win a point at Goodison Park and will be desperate to end their dreadful home form this season.

Sean Dyche's side are aiming to stop the flow of recent defeats at Goodison Park. They have scored their first goal at home this season but a 2-1 defeat to Luton Town is not something to be proud of, so The Toffees will need to perform much better this weekend.

Everton registered a season-high 23 shots on goal while conceding just two efforts on target - but again left empty-handed. The disappointing defeat came on the back of two wins away from Goodison Park - at Brentford and then Aston Villa in the League Cup, highlighting the stark contrast between Everton’s home and away forms, which is not typical for clubs managed by Sean Dyche.

The loss against Luton made it four straight home defeats to start a league season for just the second time in their history, and the Toffees now risk becoming just the fifth English top-flight side ever to lose their opening five home league matches.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been battling numerous injury concerns over the past two seasons but the 26-year-old centre-forward has now scored in three consecutive games for Everton, including back-to-back league goals. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is now looking to score in four consecutive games for the first time since October 2020.

Andre Gomes, Dele Alli and veteran-skipper Seamus Coleman are all sidelined for Everton.

On Friday, Everton revealed that defender Jarrad Branthwaite has committed his long-term future to Everton by signing a new-four year contract until the end of June 2027. The England U21 international returned to Goodison Park following a season-long spell at Eredivisie giants PSV Eindhoven last season.

Experienced Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye was subbed off at the break against Luton Town and could drop out of the starting XI on Saturday, with James Garner likely to move into the middle. Such a rotation will open a space for a natural winger to come into the side, with Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison vying for that spot.

Elsewhere, Nathan Patterson and veteran Ashley Young are in contention for the right-back spot.

Bournemouth Betting Preview (+270 at MyBookie)

The Cherries are one of the only two teams that are yet to win a Premier League game this season. With three draws and four defeats so far, the south coast side are 19^th in the Premier League table, two points above rock-bottom Sheffield United, yet just one point off safety (and their current opponents).

Bournemouth are now winless in 11 Premier League games (losing eight) stretching back to last season - since a 4-1 home win over Leeds United on April 30.

Andoni Iraola's side travel to Merseyside after a 4-0 heavy loss against Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium last weekend.

Even though he avoided relegation and the club finished 15^th last season, Bournemouth sacked Gary O'Neil to appoint Andoni Iraola in the summer. With that said, we won't be surprised if the Spanish boss is sacrificed should Bournemouth enter the October international break on their current position.

Meanwhile, Chris Mepham, Lloyd Kelly, Alex Scott, Tyler Adams, Emiliano Marcondes and Ryan Fredericks are all sidelined for Bournemouth.

Up front, Dominic Solanke is set to lead the line as the former Liverpool forward already scored three goals in just six league games this season. In comparison, Solanke scored six goals in 33 top-flight appearances throughout the 2022-23 campaign.

Dango Ouattara recovered from an injury that ruled him out of Bournemouth's opening four games this term and the Burkina Faso winger will be pushing for a start at Goodison Park.

Colombian forward Luis Sinisterra also hopes to get the nod over fellow summer arrival Justin Kluivert, who featured in all of Bournemouth's league games but is yet to score or assist.

Possible Starting Lineups of Everton and Bournemouth

Everton: Jordan Pickford - Nathan Patterson, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitaliy Mykolenko - Arnaut Danjuma, James Garner, Amadou Onana, Dwight McNeil - Abdoulaye Doucouré - Dominic Calvert-Lewin. (4-4-1-1)

Bournemouth: Neto - Max Aarons, Ilya Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi, Milos Kerkez - Ryan Christie, Lewis Cook - Marcus Tavernier, Philip Billing, Justin Kluivert - Dominic Solanke. (4-2-3-1)

Spooky Express Betting Prediction

If The Toffees suffer another home loss here, the heat will really start turning up on Sean Dyche in the Everton hot seat, especially with tricky away games at cross-city city rivals Liverpool and West Ham United coming up.

Furthermore, Everton’s next five home matches are Brighton, Manchester United, Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester City – not quite a favorable run, so Bournemouth represents the most beatable opportunity, to be fair.

Everton's chance of winning comes with the main questions of how the Blues will line up and how brave Sean Dyche is willing to be. Anyway, we are willing to take the risk this time

Spooky Express Free Play: Everton -102 for 6/10 Units

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