Supercomputer calculations narrowly favour Everton in Premier League clash v Bournemouth
Everton travel to the Vitality Stadium to play Bournemouth for the second time this week on Saturday, with the Toffees hoping to steer clear of the relegation zone.
Just four days after the Carabao Cup thrashing against Bournemouth, Everton again face the Cherries on the south coast in the Premier League.
Both teams are bound to change a lot from the weakened teams fielded in the cup tie, but that won’t stop Frank Lampard wanting to avenge the result with three points.
According to the FiveThirtyEight supercomputer, there’s a good chance Everton will avenge the result with a victory at the Vitality Stadium – 37% to be exact.
The calculations give Bournemouth slightly less of a chance with 36%, while a draw is deemed 27% likely.
Winless streak coming to an end?
After the extremely impressive 3-0 win over Crystal Palace towards the end of October, Everton followed it up with three winless matches against Fulham, Leicester City and Bournemouth.
All three were extremely disappointing results considering two are newly-promoted sides and Leicester are struggling under Brendan Rodgers this season.
However, Lampard issued a rallying cry after the Carabao Cup defeat and insisted Everton would “look very different” [Everton official website] on the weekend. It’s the kind of fighting talk that fans want to hear from the Toffees boss, but the team still need to deliver.
Gary O’Neil’s side have already shown just how dangerous they can be going forward, and while Everton’s defence will be much stronger on paper, the Cherries will still pose problems.
Saturday’s match also represents the final league fixture before the World Cup break, and the result will have a massive effect on squad morale over the next few weeks – a win lifts Everton well clear of the drop zone, but defeat could see the Toffees spend Christmas in the bottom three.