The odds of Everton dropping out of the Premiership this season have dropped from 125/1 at the start of the campaign to just 6/1 at many green-listed bookmakers after their latest defeat. The Toffees were thumped 4-1 by Southampton at the weekend and their season has fallen into complete and utter disarray. The Goodison Park faithful were full of optimism at the start of the campaign as they spent a fortune on the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Michael Keane, and Jordan Pickford and were tipped to challenge for a top-four spot under Ronald Koeman. But Koeman has been sacked, Everton are 16th in the table and pessimism abounds among fans.
Instead of targeting a top manager to get them playing slick, scintillating, pass and move football, they are now set to turn to Sam Allardyce. The former England boss specialises in getting teams out of relegation trouble, which shows just how far the Toffees have fallen in such a short space of time. Allardyce is best priced at 1/5 with William Hill and 888 Sport to be Everton’s next permanent manager, and they desperately need to make a change. It would probably be the biggest club Allardyce has managed after spells at Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn, Sunderland, West Ham and Crystal Palace, and he would certainly make them tougher to beat.
Everton go into a crunch midweek encounter against West Ham on Wednesday and it looks like a huge relegation six-pointer. The Hammers are also in grave peril and they too have rolled the dice this season. While Everton have been mulling over who to appoint as manager, West Ham have sacked Slaven Bilic, appointed David Moyes and seen him lead the team into two Premiership matches. That illustrates just how long the Everton board has dithered, and it has really cost the club. They are now just two points above West Ham, who are 18th, with 10 points from 13 games.
This will be a meeting between two sides low on confidence, and there is value to be had on every outcome. Everton, the home team, are 7/5 with Betfred, the draw is 12/5 with Betway and a West Ham win is 9/4 with Paddy Power, Stan James, Sky Bet and Boyle Sports. The betting public is divided, with an equal amount of money going on all three options. It might be wise therefore to stay away from the outrights and focus on other markets. Everton have the worst defensive record in the league this season, having conceded 28 times in 13 games, while West Ham have the second worse record, with 26 goals shipped so far. Both teams to score therefore looks a great option at 5/6 with Ladbrokes and Coral and 9/10 with Betfair. Neither team has kept a clean sheet in their last five matches, and the attackers will be licking their lips in anticipation of facing such leaky defences.
Can Everton be saved? They are best priced at 7/1 with Sky Bet, Ladbrokes, Coral and Sun Bets to go down, and that puts them ahead of several teams. Swansea, Crystal Palace, Huddersfield, West Ham, West Brom, Brighton, Newcastle, Stoke and Bournemouth are all shorter priced than Everton to go down, so by that reckoning they should be mid-table by the end of the season. But no team has fallen harder than Everton since the start of the season, when they were 125/1. If they do not buck up their ideas soon the odds will continue to plummet, and they look in real trouble. They are leaking goals and lack a goal-scorer, so that 7/1 could tempt plenty of punters.
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