SUNDAY PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews Sunday’s two Premier League matches between EVERTON v WEST HAM and NEWCASTLE v TOTTENHAM both with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.
EVERTON V WEST HAM
2pm I have to say, what a fascinating Super Sunday in the Premier League! We have two intriguing fixtures, and two very competitive betting heats on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. We start with a very open market as Everton host West Ham in what should be a very close game. I think it’s reasonable to be a little disappointed with West Ham this season after how good they were last season. I know we can’t expect them to challenge for the Top Four again and last season will probably be their highest finish for a while, but they seem to have gone backwards this season. They are just creating a little less in front of goal and conceding a little more. They started the weekend just inside the top half of the table though and if you took out last season, a mid-table finish for a club like West Ham is probably a fair reflection of their level.
Everton have impressed me this season though. They are playing good football. I was a big fan of backing West Ham last season because I felt they offered some great value within the markets, but Everton could be underrated here for this clash. They have only lost once with a shock 3-0 loss to Aston Villa, but xG figures suggested a draw would have been a fair result. Other than that Everton are performing consistently well. They have created xG figures of 2.19, 1.86, 1.50, 1.87, 0.90, 2.03 and 1.21. They are creating enough to win games but you could argue they have had an easy fixture list apart from Manchester United but they deserved a 1-1 draw there. Since scoring eight goals in their opening two games, West Ham have only managed to beat Leeds who have been poor this season. They are conceding a lot too, and I feel Everton look good value here at 2.6. No doubt we will have a close game, but I’d have Everton closer to 2.5.
The Striker Says:
Two points win Everton to beat West Ham at 2.6 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQEvewhu
MATCH STATS
● Everton have won more Premier League games (27) and scored more Premier League goals (87) against West Ham than they have vs any other side in the competition.
● West Ham have won two of their last three Premier League away games against Everton (L1), as many as they had in their previous 21 visits to Goodison Park. They’re looking to win consecutive away league games against the Toffees for the first time since March 1930.
● Everton have won all three of their Premier League home games so far this season – they last won each of their first four at Goodison Park in a league campaign back in 1978-79 under Gordon Lee.
● West Ham have lost two of their last three Premier League games (W1), more than they had in their previous nine combined (1). However, away from home West Ham are unbeaten in six Premier League matches (W4 D2), with the Hammers last having a longer such run in the competition back in January 2009 (7 games).
● Everton have won seven points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side coming into this weekend’s games. Indeed, it’s already as many (or more) as they won in each of their last three campaigns, with the Toffees last winning more points from behind in 2017-18 (14).
● Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored five goals in his last four appearances against West Ham in all competitions – the only team he has netted as many goals against for the Toffees is Newcastle (5).
● Andros Townsend has been directly involved in eight goals in nine games in all competitions for Everton (5 goals, 3 assists), as many as he had in his final 61 appearances for Crystal Palace (2 goals, 6 assists). However, Townsend has never scored in 14 games against West Ham, more than he’s faced any other side without finding the net in his career.
● No player has had more ball carries leading to a shot (12) or a goal (3) than Everton’s Demarai Gray in the Premier League this season. West Ham’s Michail Antonio has also had three ball carries leading to a goal this term.
● In all competitions (ahead of this weekend’s games), only Mohamed Salah (12) has been directly involved in more goals among Premier League players this season than West Ham’s Michail Antonio (10 – 6 goals, 4 assists).
● West Ham duo Saïd Benrahma and Michail Antonio have created 14 chances for each other in the Premier League this season (7 each), more than any other pair in the competition so far this term.
NEWCASTLE V TOTTENHAM
4.30pm I’m sure this was decided as a big TV game before Newcastle were taken over by the Saudi Arabian owners, but what a talking point for a Sunday afternoon! What can you say other than there’s been plenty of drama around Newcastle since the news broke this week. After failing to secure Brendan Rodgers or Rafa Benitez, Steve Bruce will stay as Newcastle manager for his 1,000th game in charge before he steps aside after this game. Although there’s been a huge amount of negative press around the owners, long-term Newcastle fans will be delighted to have big money to spend now. As all we know in football by now, money talks. It’s likely Newcastle will shoot up in the Premier League table over the next few years. However, as we saw at Manchester City, these things take time and there will be a lot of mistakes along the way.
The big issue I can see for Newcastle at the moment is who are they going to attract now only players after a big pay check. We know they can down tools quickly when things aren’t going their way, but they will have to rely on mercenaries to possibly get them into a European spot before attracting more players who buy into the project (also on high wages!) With all the talk about the future, let’s not forget that Newcastle are second bottom without a win in their opening seven games – turning things around won’t be quick either! They face a Spurs side here who are in the bottom three on the xG table and they have been very poor this season. I feel we’ll get a pretty close game here, and I’m happy to lay Spurs at 2.18 – they haven’t been playing well enough to justify odds like that away from home. I can see the players upping their game for Bruce’s last game in charge too and with Spurs out of form, we can see a result for the home side here.
The Striker Says:
Two points lay (liability) Tottenham to beat Newcastle at 2.18 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
MATCH STATS
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQNewtot
● Newcastle are winless in their last four home league games against Spurs (D1 L3), since winning 5-1 on the final day of the 2015-16 season.
● Tottenham dropped four points from winning positions against Newcastle in the Premier League last season, with the Magpies netting 90th and 85th minute equalisers in the two games to draw.
● Tottenham have lost just one of their last 18 Premier League games against sides starting the day in the relegation zone (W13 D4), though that defeat did come against Newcastle (0-1 in August 2019).
● Newcastle are winless in the Premier League so far this season (D3 L4), with no side conceding more goals than the Magpies after seven games this term (16).
● Tottenham have lost their last two away league games, going down 3-0 at Crystal Palace and 3-1 at Arsenal. They’ve not conceded 3+ goals in three consecutive away league games since April 2014 (D1 L2), while they’ve not done so while losing each time since September 1979.
● Tottenham are averaging 10.4 shots-per-game under Nuno Espírito Santo in the Premier League so far, and have a conversion rate of 8.2%. By comparison, they averaged 15.7 shots under Mauricio Pochettino (11.8% conversion), and 11.2 under José Mourinho (15% conversion) in the competition.
● Five of Harry Kane’s six Premier League goals for Tottenham against Newcastle have come at St James’ Park. He’s only scored more away goals against Leicester (8) and Everton (7) in the competition than he has against the Magpies.
● This will be Newcastle boss Steve Bruce’s 1000th game in charge across his managerial career (W376 D254 L369). He’s won just four of his 26 encounters with Spurs in all competitions (D9 L13), with each victory coming in the Premier League with a different club (Birmingham, Wigan, Sunderland, Newcastle).
● Newcastle’s Allan Saint-Maximin has carried the ball further than any other player in the Premier League this season (1950 metres), while the Frenchman has also created the most chances following a ball carry than any other player (11).
● Son Heung-min has been directly involved in four of Spurs’ six Premier League goals so far this season (3 goals, 1 assist), with the other two being a penalty and an own goal. Meanwhile, teammate Harry Kane is without a goal in his last six Premier League appearances, last having a longer run in the competition between April and October 2014 (8 games).
