Everton vs. Bournemouth Betting Tips: Two bets as The Toffees search for survival

All eyes will be on Goodison Park this Sunday when Everton take on Bournemouth in what is the crucial match in the Premier League’s relegation battle.

Scott Thornton is on hand with his best two bets for the clash...

This is the second consecutive season that the Toffees have been battling the drop. However, it did not go down to the final day in the last campaign.

A win on Sunday would guarantee their safety and condemn Leeds and Leicester to the Championship.

The concern for Everton is that they have lost their last four matches against Bournemouth, which includes a 3-0 defeat in the league and a 4-1 defeat in the League Cup this season.

Bournemouth had a disastrous start to the season but Gary O’Neil has got the best our of his players.

They are comfortable on 39 points and relegation hasn’t been a real possibility for a number of weeks.

The signs were ominous when Scott Parker was sacked after the thumping at Anfield but the Cherries have shown they are capable of re-establish themselves as a Premier League side.

Everton have shown more fight under Sean Dyche. His side have got stuck in and opted to press their opponents high up the pitch in order to force defensive errors.

This increased urgency when out of possession has led to increased tackle numbers: since Dyche has come in, they are averaging 19.63 tackles per game in front of their own fans.

The importance of a win, coupled with the vocal home support should mean that Everton rack up the tackles on Sunday.

Bournemouth’s opponents are averaging 18.78 tackles per game this season, while the Cherries forced Everton into making 30 tackles in the reverse fixture.

Moreover, their opponents have had 19 or more tackles in four of their last five Premier League matches. The exception was the game at home to Chelsea. 

We are also going to back both teams to score in the match.

The Toffees have had defensive issues this season, they have kept just two clean sheets in their last 10 matches so they may have to score a couple in order to get the three points that are needed.

The last home game against Manchester City was the only time Everton had failed to score at Goodison in their last five matches.

Bournemouth have put seven past Everton across their two matches this season.

O’Neil’s side are unlikely to roll over here despite having nothing to play for themselves,. They have showed great fighting since he was appointed and they will not want to end the season with a defeat.

We are going to back a higher tackles line for our longer odds bet as the scenario Everton find themselves in means this bet could easily land.

The 30 tackles they hit in the last game against Bournemouth also shows that the Cherries are capable of forcing tackles from the Everton players.

We are also going to add over one card in the match for Everton. This has landed in seven of Dyche’s eight home games in charge of the club. The only occasion it didn’t was when they were thumped by Man City.

It should be an emotionally charged affair and there will no doubt be some frustration amongst the Everton ranks at some stage. Time wasting is also a real possibility and Stuart Attwell is unlikely to tolerate it.