Toffees Need To Stick It To The Gunners - Betting News with Betfred

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Everton have been painfully shy in front of goal all season but are going to need their strikers to be on top form if they are to get all three points against Arsenal on Sunday at Goodison Park.

Arsene Wenger's men are riding high in the league despite losing three games and looking shaky. The defeat against Newcastle showed the continued fragility of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and the Gunners rode their luck against Wolves in midweek to earn a win.

Everton have recovered from the early season jitters to climb the Premier League table, and should certainly not be on the end of a 6-1 home thrashing like they were in this fixture last season. However despite home advantage and an improvement in results recently, the Toffees are still the outsiders in the Premier League betting at odds of 12/5 for the win with Betfred compared to the 6/5 on offer for Arsenal to take all three points.

David Moyes earned the manager of the month award for October, but he knows his team could be even higher if his misfiring strikers could score on a more regular basis.

Yakubu and Louis Saha have struggled as Everton have scored only 13 goals so far this season, but now the Toffees fans are hoping that Jermaine Beckford can be the one to fire them up the table.

He has been poor so far, but finally came to life with a brilliant last-minute goal against Bolton in midweek, the type of goal his team-mate Leighton Baines claims he has been doing "quite regularly" in training.

"He has now proved he can be a valuable asset for the club," said the defender.

While one goal does not a goalscoring legend make, it could fill the Everton fans with some optimism - especially as the Arsenal rearguard looks more vulnerable than in recent seasons. Beckford is 8/1 in the football odds to be first goalscorer, so this could be a good option, if the game is stalemate going into the latter stages.

With the right pressure in the correct areas the Blues should be able to cause the Gunners defensive problems, but they will have to be wary as the likes of Fabregas, Wilshire, Walcott, Chamakh and Arshavin could really trouble them on the break

My Tip of the Weekend:

Expect a tight game in which Arsenal will be too strong and take all three points back to London with a 1-0 win, a result which is 6/1 with Betfred.

Sunday 14th November: Everton v Arsenal, kick-off 2pm, Live on Sky Sports 1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Toffees Hoping To Leave Their City Rivals Feeling Blue - Betting News with Betfred

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The pressure of a Merseyside derby could be coming at the wrong time for Liverpool, but Everton fans must be looking to heap more misery on their struggling city rivals.

Both teams have had disappointing starts to the season, but few football fans expected Liverpool to be sitting in the bottom three after seven games, with just one Premier League victory so far this season. Everton sit just one place above them on goal difference, after their win over Birmingham last time out – but this clash at Goodison could have added importance for Liverpool as they have already drifted out to 8/1 with Betfred in the football betting to finish the season in the Premier League top four.

Liverpool are going to be without Dirk Kuyt, but could have Fernando Torres back in the side after recovering from an adductor strain. Although he has disappointed this season there is no doubting his quality, and as a big-game player Reds fans may fancy the 11/2 on offer for Torres to score the first goal of the derby.

One man who has scored in a winning Everton side over Liverpool is Danny Cadamarteri, and he believes the Toffees are "more than capable" of piling even more pressure on Roy Hodgson's shoulders and indeed the Toffees are many people's Premier League tips to win on Sunday.

Cadamarteri claimed the Reds look "rock bottom" and the blue side of the city could "put one over" on their more illustrious rivals.

He went on to say: "They're obviously going to be up for the derby but I think confidence in the Liverpool camp is low, and I just have this sneaky feeling that it could turn out to be one of those weekends where Everton have an opportunity to brag about a big win against the Reds."

Everton's defender Leighton Baines has told BBC Radio Merseyside that he thinks Tim Cahill could be the match-winner at Goodison Park. He is hoping the Australian midfielder can be the "man on the spot" for Everton, as he has been so often in the past, at the most crucial of times – and Cahill is 15/2 to open the scoring on Sunday.

My Tip of the Weekend:

With both sides struggling for form and goals, it's likely neither team will come away from this game happy, and as such 9/4 for the game to be a draw looks like the value bet.
Referees are also likely to be cracking down on bad challenges after the storm about dirty tackles - fuelled by former Kop star Danny Murphy's comments. So the 9/4 on offer with Betfred for a red card at Goodison Park looks tempting.

Sunday 17th October: Everton v Liverpool, kick-off 1.30pm - Live on Sky Sports 1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

England's Pre-World Cup Squad of 30 Announced

Today, England boss Fabio Capello named a 30 strong Pre-World Cup squad, which he shall whittle down to a final 23 players on the 1st June.

The 30 man squad comprises of 3 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 12 midfielders and 5 strikers.

Selected in the preliminary squad are the uncapped Adam Johnson and Michael Dawson, the controversially recalled Jamie Carragher, the currently injured Gareth Barry and the somewhat surprising inclusions of Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock who have a total of just six England caps between them!

Paul Scholes, unlike Carragher turned down the opportunity to be a part of Capello's squad, as the England boss tried in vain to persuade the experienced Man Utd midfielder to make himself available.

The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers:
Joe Hart (Man City) - 1 Cap, 23 Years Old
David James (Portsmouth) - 49 Caps, 39 Yrs
Robert Green (West Ham) - 9 caps, 30 Yrs

Defenders:
Leighton Baines (Everton) - 1 Cap, 25 Years Old
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) - 34 caps, 32 Yrs
Ashley Cole (Chelsea) - 77 Caps, 29 Yrs
Michael Dawson (Spurs) - Uncapped, 26 Yrs
Rio Ferdinand Man Utd) - 76 Caps, 31 yrs
Glen Johnson (Liverpool) - 20 Caps, 25 Yrs
Ledley King (Spurs) - 19 Caps, 29 Yrs
John Terry (Chelsea) - 59 caps, 29 Yrs

Matthew Upson (West Ham) - 19 caps, 31 Yrs

Stephen Warnock (Villa) - 1 Cap, 28 Yrs

Jamie Carragher - surprise recall!

Midfielders:

Gareth Barry (Villa) - 36 Caps, 29 Yrs
Michael Carrick - (Man Utd) - 21 caps, 28 Yrs
Joe Cole (Chelsea) - 53 Caps, 28 Yrs
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - 78 caps, 29 Yrs
Tom Huddlestone (Spurs) - 1 cap, 23 Yrs
Adam Johnson (Man City) - Uncapped, 22 Yrs
Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - 77 caps, 31 yrs
Aaron Lennon (Spurs) - 15 caps, 23 Yrs
James Milner (Villa) - 7 Caps, 24 yrs
Scott Parker (West Ham) - 3 caps, 29 Yrs
Theo Walcott (Arsenal) - 9 caps, 21 Yrs
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City) - 30 Caps, 28 Yrs

Gareth Barry - an injury doubt!

Strikers:
Darren Bent (Sunderland) - 5 Caps, 26 Yrs
Peter Crouch (Spurs) - 37 caps, 29 Yrs
Jermain Defoe (Spurs) - 39 Caps, 27 Yrs
Emile Heskey (Villa) - 57 caps, 32 Yrs
Wayne Rooney (Man Utd) - 58 caps, 24 Yrs

Under Fifa regulations, Capello is permitted to bring players into his 23-man squad who were not included in the preliminary party.
But that would be an unusual move, meaning the final party he takes to this summer's finals in South Africa is likely to come from the one he has already named.

There are inevitably a number of players who will be disappointed at not being selected, at least in Capello's initial 30 strong squad, including the likes of:

Paul Robinson (Blackburn) - 41 England Caps, 30 Years Old. Scott Carson (West Brom) - 3 caps, 24 Yrs. Gary Neville (Man Utd) - 85 caps, 30 Yrs. Wayne Bridge (Man City) - 36 Caps, 29 Yrs. Sol Campbell (Arsenal) - 73 caps, 35 Yrs. Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) - Uncapped, 22 Yrs. Wes Brown (Man Utd) - 23 Caps, 30 Yrs. Phil Jagielka (Everton) - 3 Caps, 27 Yrs. Joleon Lescott (Man City) - 9 Caps, 27 Yrs. Gary Cahill (Bolton) - Uncapped, 24 Yrs. Ashley Young (Aston Villa) - 7 Caps, 24 Yrs. Jermaine Jenas (Spurs) - 21 Caps, 27 Yrs. Owen Hargreaves (Man Utd) - 42 Caps, 29 Yrs. Stewart Downing (Villa) - 23 Caps, 25 Yrs. Jamie O'Hara (Spurs) - Uncapped, 23 Yrs. Kevin Davies (Bolton) - Uncapped, 33 Yrs. Carlton Cole (West Ham) - 7 caps, 26 Yrs. Bobby Zamora (Fulham) - Uncapped, 29 Yrs. Gabriel Agbonlahor (Villa) - 3 Caps, 23 Yrs.


England play Mexico at Wembley on 24th May and Japan in Austria six days later as part of a pre-tournament training camp.

In my opinion the seven players that Fabio Capello will leave out of his final World Cup squad of 23 players on the 1st June are: Warnock, Upson, Dawson, Huddlestone, Barry (only if injured - if he's fit then Adam Johnson may well make way), Wright-Phillips and Bent.