Ronald Koeman has only been with Everton for a couple short months, but already, he's positioning himself into being one of the top managers available to move to a big club at the end of this season. The work he's done with the Toffees has been brilliant to date, though it should be noted that it has only been four matches thus far in 2016-17. A win this weekend over Middlesbrough went from a reasonable hope to a tremendous expectation over the course of the last few weeks, and that will end up heaping some pressure on Koeman to again exceed expectations against one of the EPL newcomers this year.
This Premier League duel will go down Saturday, September 17, 2016, at 12:30 p.m. ET at Goodison Park. The match will be televised live on NBC.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Everton -146
Middlesbrough +450
Draw +275
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
In fairness to Boro, it has really come on strong this year as well when many figured it would struggle just to stay up this season. Middlesbrough has five points thus far as well, and that's more than most would have figured through four matches.
That's why Everton is only a minor odds-on favorite at -146. It's a heavy price for sure, but for a team that has historically enjoyed quite the home field advantage at Goodison Park, this might end up being a relatively short number.
The total of 2.5 with -125 vig on the under is fairly standard.
Key Injuries
The job that Koeman is doing is even more remarkable considering the list of injuries he's had to endure already this year. Muhamed Besic, Tyias Browning, Tom Cleverley, Darron Gibson, James McCarthy and Matthew Pennington have all missed time on the season, and it seems as though Cleverley is the only one of the bunch who is going to be able to play in the Starting XI this week.
Boro is still without James Husband and Grant Leadbitter, though the injury situation surely could be far worse at this point.
Recent Form
Middlesbrough was beaten 2-1 by Crystal Palace in its last match last weekend, and that really helped erase the job from a 2-1 win at Sunderland back on August 21. That's the only win of the season to date, though draws against Stoke City and West Brom shouldn't be understated either.
The start to the season has been virtually perfect for Everton. The team drew at home against Tottenham in a very reasonable result in Match Day 1, but since then, it has picked up the maximum nine points over West Brom, Stoke and Sunderland and should really get another three here against Boro. The Toffees had better make their mark now, because the matches get a lot tougher after an international break at the start of October.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Romelu Lukaku is the man to watch in this one. He's the most dangerous scorer Koeman is going to send out there in this match, and his hat trick against Sunderland was truly a work of art that could get him going after such a slow start to the year.
All three of his goal came on massive defensive breakdowns by the Black Cats, and these are the big issues that Middlesbrough was expected to have at this level this season. We saw that come true against Crystal Palace when Boro conceded twice, both goals of which came thanks to poor marking, and if that marking is suspect again in this match, there's no doubt that the hosts are going to get their share of the spoils. Play the over if you prefer Middlesbrough, but for us, this is a match that the Toffees should win with ease.
Premier League Odds: Everton 2, Middlesbrough 0
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