Michael Owen predicts Everton clash v Norwich City
Michael Owen predicts an Everton victory over Norwich City on Saturday in the Premier League despite the Toffees' lack of form of late.
Everton go into this game after securing three signings in the first two weeks of January.
Nathan Patterson, Vitaliy Mykolenko and Anwar El Ghazi are all eligible to feature in this one.
Predicting the game, Owen told Bet Victor, "Norwich didn’t really threaten West Ham on Wednesday. They’ve got two massive games ahead of them, against Everton here and then against Watford. Things are obviously not looking good for them, but they aren’t cut adrift and a win in one of those games still gives them some hope.
"The FA Cup gave Everton, and Rafa Benitez, an escape from the pressure of the league. The mood around Goodison was very low after the Brighton defeat and a defeat here would be rock bottom. Calvert-Lewin has returned though, and they’ve made a couple of new signings. That will help.
"This is a massive game for both. Norwich will give this everything they have; I just don’t think they have enough quality. I’m going for a 2-1 Everton win."
Win's a win
Rafa Benitez has found three points hard to come by for his side this season so he'll take it however it comes.
While the expectation would be to dominate Norwich and take the game to them, Everton have given little indication that they're capable of doing that.
The hope is that the new signings fill in the deficiencies in the squad and guide them to the top 10.
While another midfielder will be the need of the hour this window, there are no excuses for not being able to beat the bottom team in the Premier League.
The Merseyside outfit need to start this one strongly and put Dean Smith's men on the back foot.