PaddyPower
Player Valuation: £225k
Blackpool v Everton
It’s 40 years ago since Everton last beat Blackpool in the league. Back then, Freda Payne was top of the hit parade with Band Of Gold – a heartbreaking song about a married couple going through a difficult break-up. The writing was on the wall early on because they spent their wedding night in separate rooms. And to give you an idea of how old it is, they didn’t even have pay per view pornography at the time. Or maybe they did and maybe that explains why the groom didn’t spend the night with his wife and all the trouble started.
Thankfully the long period without an Everton victory has more to do with the fact the two teams have been in different divisions rather than some sort of disgruntled Tangerine-loving gypsy putting a curse on the Toffees. Even prior to that in 1970 there’s little evidence to suggest the Seasiders have any sort of a hoodoo over Everton, which is good because they’ve defied many gloomy predictions to become a real handful for some of the Premier League’s leading lights. And of course Liverpool.
At times his soundbites hint at a Britney Spears grasp of sanity, but Ian Holloway knows what he’s doing. The quotable manager has his team playing decent football and more importantly, collecting enough points to keep their heads firmly above water. Fans weren’t happy with the lack of activity from their club during the summer transfer window, but in a great advert for panic-buying, Holloway’s late deals have helped fire the team to a better than expected position with a quarter of the season played.
The wins have gone a long way to papering over the cracks because as good as they’ve been, they’ve struggled on occasion. High profile wins have been followed up with disappointing defeats in more winnable and - in the context of a likely relegation battle - more significant games against teams expected to be scrambling to avoid the drop. In short, Everton can and should fully expect to claim all three points at Bloomfield Road. For a while they were finding themselves on the wrong side of narrow margins, but now they’ve got into the habit of coming out on the right side of hard-fought results. And not so hard fought results like the Merseyside Derby.
Yakubu’s return to goalscoring ways is a real boost for the Toffees. Whilst it’s great to see Cahill, Arteta and Baines chip in with vital contributions, a sustained push for the European places will need to have its foundations built firmly upon the goals of the strike-force. No team have conceded more Premier League goals than Blackpool this season and what’s possibly most encouraging for Moyes’s men is the fact they’re vulnerable in a couple of ways. They struggle to contain the more fluid style of football and the more direct and powerful approach. Everton are well-equipped in both departments and can play their way around the defence yet still present a serious aerial threat. Whatever manner works remains to be seen, but Yakubu looks like the player most likely to benefit. He’s 11/2 to be the 1st goalscorer and should get his fair share of chances. Since arriving at Goodison Park, his goals have tended to come in patches and if you reckon last week’s goal was an indication the flood gates are about to open, you might think he’s good value to record his 3rd hat-trick in an Everton shirt @ 33/1.
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