Everton vs Sunderland Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Oct 22, 2015 @ 02:08 pm

Everton conceded 2 goals in the space of a minute which ultimately sealed a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates whilst Sunderland got a first Premier League win in the Tynewear derby which maintained a certain tradition at the club.

Roberto Martinez will be frustrated that 2 minutes of a lapse in concentration handed them a 3^rd defeat in 10 league games after only having 1 defeat in their opening 8. Consecutive defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal isn’t going to send the club into meltdown but switching off at this level can be severely punished and they found that out. 2 headers from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny put them 2-0 down and despite Ross Barkley scoring just before the break, Everton couldn’t quite find an equalizer before having Gareth Barry sent off late on. The bad news didn’t end there as Phil Jagielka left the Emirates on crutches after picking up a knee injury shortly into the second half and Martinez will be majorly concerned over his captain.

Sam Allardyce gained his first win as boss of Sunderland in the Tynewear derby of all games. It extended Sunderland’s winning run over Newcastle to 6 games, the best run in the Tynewear derby in history. It also maintained the tradition of Allardyce’s predecessors who also enjoyed defeating Newcastle in their 2^nd game in charge with Paolo Di Canio, Gus Poyet and Dick Advocaat all losing the 1^st match in charge before beating Sunderland. The turning point happened shortly before half time when Fabrizio Coloccini brought down Steven Fletcher and was deemed a sending off offence. The penalty was converted by Adam Johnson and second half goals followed from Billy Jones and Steven Fletcher. Costel Pantilimon was magnificent in goal making 8 saves against Newcastle despite having a man advantage.

The win took Sunderland off the foot of the table and it gave them a first Premier League win of the season. Everton now have 13 points, 13 goals scored and 13 goals conceded but face an opponent in the bottom half of the table for just the 4^th time this season. Sunderland last won away from home at Goodison Park last season and Everton have won 1 game at home since the defeat in the league. All 6 of Everton’s Premier League goals at Goodison have come from open play and is a clear indication of how sorely they’ve missed set piece taker, Leighton Baines this season.

Gareth Barry will serve his 1 match suspension against Norwich City midweek in the Capital One Cup so will be available for the visit from Sunderland. Phil Jagielka is also set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Ola Toivonen suffered a recurrence of a groin injury he sustained on international duty and just a minute later in the win over Newcastle, John O’Shea came off with a hamstring injury. Allardyce is also sweating on the fitness of Younes Kaboul but is likely to be fit enough against Everton.

Everton

Stats: W-3 L-3 D-4

Recent Form - WWDLL

Sunderland

Stats: W-1 L-6 D-3

Recent Form - LLDLW

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Everton (4-2-3-1) – Howard, Coleman, Stones, Funes Mori, Galloway, Barry, McCarthy, Lennon, Barkley, Deulofeu, Lukaku

Sunderland (4-4-2) – Pantilimon, Jones, Coates, Kaboul, Yedlin, Cattermole, M’Vila, Lens, Johnson, Fletcher, Defoe

Injury List/Suspended Players

Everton – Jagielka (inj), Besic (inj), Baines (inj), Hibbert (inj), Pienaar (inj)
Sunderland – O’Shea (inj), Toivonen (inj), Borini (inj), Rodwell (inj)

Everton v Sunderland Head to Head

League Positions