English Premier
2025-02-01 - Everton vs Leicester City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 1st February 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Everton
Not everyone was convinced about David Moyes' return as manager of Everton Football Club, although the majority were of the opinion that he was the best choice to keep the club in the Premier League. Early results are suggesting that Everton have made the right choice and David Moyes also looks very happy back in the hot seat at Goodison Park.
Important wins over the last couple of weeks have pushed Everton 7 points clear of the bottom three and with a game in hand over the relegation rivals below them. The Toffees have a 3-4-4 record at home in the Premier League and this is a big opportunity for Everton to really put some daylight between them and the drop zone.
Everton were beaten 0-1 by Aston Villa in the first game in David Moyes' second reign as manager of the club, but they have won consecutive Premier League games against Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton since then. The side had failed to win any of 3 home Premier League games before the win over Spurs last time out here.
Dwight McNeil had already been ruled out for a little bit of time, but Everton then saw Orel Mangala and Dominic Calvert-Lewin lost to injuries at the Amex Stadium last weekend.
Leicester City
Whatever Ruud van Nistelrooy said to his players at half time at Tottenham Hotspur will need to be bottled and used again if Leicester City are going to avoid relegation. The Dutchman had been under pressure as manager according to reports in the build up to that Premier League fixture, but he will be walking a little taller after his players responded in the best way by coming from behind to earn a vital three points.
The result not only snapped a poor run of form, but other results over the weekend meant Leicester City were able to move up into 17th place in the Premier League table and a point clear of both Ipswich Town and Wolves below them. Backing up the victory over Spurs is the key for Leicester City who improved their away record to 2-2-7 in the top flight.
Leicester City had won a FA Cup game against Queens Park Rangers during the 7 game losing run in the Premier League, but the manager and players needed a big League result and achieved that last weekend. The Foxes had lost 5 away Premier League games in succession before beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 last Sunday.
Wilfred Ndidi is hoping to return this weekend, while first choice goalkeeper Mads Hermansen could be available for the FA Cup Fourth Round tie at Old Trafford next week.
Head to Head
Leicester City and Everton played out a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium in September.
Everton have not won any of their last 3 home games against Leicester City and were beaten 0-2 at Goodison Park when last hosting them in November 2022.
Prediction
This is a huge fixture at the bottom of the Premier League and both David Moyes and Ruud van Nistelrooy will be feeling much happier after big away wins last weekend.
Backing up successes has been difficult for both Everton and Leicester City and that is the main reason they are a part of the bottom five in the Premier League table.
Injuries have been a factor and it does look like Everton are a little more banged up compared with Leicester City and the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a blow.
However, David Moyes' experience is clearly helping this Everton squad who have earned back to back wins, while Sean Dyche had left some solid defensive foundations behind.
That could be the key to this important Premier League game with Everton less likely to make defensive mistakes compared with Leicester City.
Ruud van Nistelrooy's team secured a very important win at Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday, but Everton are unlikely to be as vulnerable at the back compared with Spurs. And regardless of the win, Leicester City are still a team that will offer up chances to opponents and Everton may just have enough to at least score once, which could be enough to secure the victory.
Backing a team like Everton at odds on looks a really poor price, but they are the more likely winners, even without Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading the line. In the three games under David Moyes, Everton have looked pretty good in the final third and they have retained solid enough defensive shape to believe they will win this one.
It was a big win for Leicester City last Sunday, but they are still vulnerable at the back and that makes it tough to believe they can back up their success here.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Everton 2-0 Leicester City
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Everton to Win at 1.80 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)
