Everton v Watford preview, statistics, head to head and predictions (tips)

Everton’s rollercoaster of a season continued in midweek as they were held to a draw by a determined looking Newcastle outfit at Goodison Park, but there’s no denying that the fans are looking much happier now than they were at the end of last season under Sam Allardyce.

Admittedly, Marco Silva’s reign hasn’t been without it’s teething problems. The Toffees possibly have the best squad outside of the Premier League Big Six, but they only managed to win 1 of their opening 6 league games, despite having a very favourable fixture list.

Fortunately for the home fans, Everton’s injury crisis eased off and Silva began to show his worth at the helm. They have lost just 2 of their last 9 Premier League outings and have won 5 times in this period. This takes them up to 6th in the table, and no team outside of the top 6 has lost fewer times than them this season.

Watford’s season has almost been the reverse of Everton’s so far. The Hornets started off very strongly with 4 consecutive wins in the Premier League, but as is often the case with them, they soon dropped off the boil and now find themselves in a bit of bother.

Their 2-1 loss at home to Manchester City in midweek made it 2 wins, 2 draws, and 7 defeats from their last 11 league outings, and it’s dropped them down into the bottom half of the table for the first time this season.

Watford have now lost 4 of their last 5 league games, and they’re going up against an Everton side who they have really struggled against in the past. In fact, Watford have never won away from home against Everton, losing 11 of their 12 visits to them and drawing the remaining game.

The odds are stacking up in the Toffees’ favour here. They have lost just 1 home game all season in the league and are unbeaten at Goodison Park since the middle of September. 4 of the 5 matches there since then have ended in victory, and despite the doubts over Marco Silva’s defensive astuteness they have even managed to keep a clean sheet in 3 of these games.

We think backing an Everton win here looks fantastic value for money, and a 2-0 correct score predictions looks good too. We’re also opting for Richarlison to find the net. The Brazilian has scored 7 goals in his 13 league appearances for Everton this season, including 4 in 6 at Goodison Park. The most recent of these was against Newcastle on Wednesday, and with him set to return to a central position on Monday, we like the look of him for our anytime goalscorer predictions.

• Everton came from two goals behind to win 3-2 in their Premier League meeting with Watford at Goodison Park last season – current Toffees boss Marco Silva was manager of the Hornets that day.
• Everton’s 3-2 comeback win against Watford last season was one of only three occasions in Premier League history a team came from two goals behind to win in a game that was goalless at half-time (also Derby County 2-3 Newcastle United in April 2002 and QPR 3-2 Liverpool in March 2012).
• The last 10 goals scored in Premier League matches between Everton and Watford have been scored in the second half.
• Watford have failed to win any of their last nine away league matches played on a Monday (W0 D2 L7) since a 2-1 win at Scunthorpe United in January 2011 in the Championship; the Hornets’ last away top-flight win on a Monday was in May 1986 against Chelsea (P12 W0 D3 L9 since).
• Watford are looking to avoid four consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2017.
• Everton forward Richarlison has scored seven goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season, two more than he managed in the whole of last season for former club Watford (five goals in 38 appearances).
• Roberto Pereyra is Watford’s top scorer in the Premier League this season with five goals, but he hasn’t been involved in a single goal in his last five appearances in the competition despite playing a total of six hours & 33 minutes in those games.
• Everton’s Theo Walcott is looking to make his 300th appearance in the Premier League in this game, while he would be the 125th player in competition history to reach this milestone.

Paul Mersons Prediction;

Everton 2-1 Watford

FSP Prediction;

Everton 2-0 Watford

Your Free Bet prediction;

Everton 2-1 Watford