Everton v Man Utd – Blue Square best price on away win.
Blue Square PR Manager Alan Alger explains why they will be taking on Manchester United as they travel to Goodison Park for Saturday’s early afternoon live game from the Premier League:I’m sure we’ve been here before! The expectation falling on Everton’s shoulders to produce a nice result to boost our bookmaking coffers. The Toffees are the outsiders as they welcome Manchester United to Goodison Park for Saturday’s early afternoon encounter live on Sky. Our traders have decided to take a big view against the Red Devils but will need plenty of help from David Moyes’ men – which wasn’t forthcoming last time we relied on them. That fateful trip to rivals Liverpool in which they succumbed to the ten-man Reds is still a sore point with our football desk.
Both teams had European assignments in midweek with United running out 3-2 winners at the San Siro, and Everton registering a 2-1 success over Sporting on the same night. The Merseysiders did not have to travel to the continent which could prove to be of minor advantage when the whistle blows on Saturday afternoon. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have been chalked up at an industry best price of 5/6 to keep up the title heat on Chelsea with a win here. History is on their side, particularly in recent seasons. Everton’s last win over United in the league was way back in the 2004-05 campaign. In taking on United, we will of course have the draw on our side and that eventuality is 12/5.
Wayne Rooney once again showed why he is one of the best players in the World during the ninety minutes against Milan. His two goals helped his side to come from behind and win, something they are 8/1 to do when visiting his boyhood club. Rooney is just 10/11 to score at anytime in this match and an extremely short 15/8 to find his way into the referee’s notebook. Both of those events happened on Tuesday and you wouldn’t bet against a repeat here, the home crowd will not be off his back for the duration of the game. The England striker is 25/1 to score a hat-trick and a touch shorter to not complete the game after a red-card at 16/1.
Landon Donovan will line up for the USA against England in South Africa and has already given his nation a big boost. Donovan’s tackle on Chelsea’s Ashley Cole broke the England full-backs ankle last week at Goodison and God forbid a repeat against Rooney here. Donovan is 18/1 to be the first player booked in the game and whilst the tackle on Cole was not malicious, he will still be in the right areas to get involved in physical battles. It’s nice to see Paul Scholes finally given the credit his tackling prowess deserves and he is a joint market leader at 8/1 in the ‘first card’ market. Interestingly serial offender Darren Fletcher appears down the lists at 12/1 and that would be where I’d place my money.
Everton only have six clean sheets to their name in the league this season and it’s hard to envisage United hitting a blank here. The first goalscorer market reflects Everton’s limited options up front but United’s defence did look vulnerable at times in midweek so I wouldn’t be surprised to see somebody like Tim Cahill finding an acre of space and scoring with a trademark header. The Aussie midfielder is 10/1 to net first. On the correct-score market (where we will be refunding losing bets if the game ends 0-0) I like the look of a 2-2 draw at 14/1.
Author: Alan Alger
