Saturday 20th February 2016 Kickoff: 1715hrs Bournemouth v Everton Football – England – FA Cup
The FA Cup takes centre stage in England this weekend, and the pick of the ties on Saturday looks to be an all-Premier League fixture between Bournemouth and Everton and Dean Court. Both of these clubs suffered disappointing home defeats last weekend in the league so will be hoping for better fortunes as they look to progress into the quarter-finals.
It’s fair to say that following winning the Championship last season, this campaign has been a sizeable adjustment for Bournemouth and their manager Eddie Howe. It’s the first time that Howe and the majority of his squad have ever played at this level and there have been some harsh lessons along the way. Two wins from their first 14 league games left them mired in the relegation zone for the first third of the season, but a strong December and January has seen the Cherries in with a fighting chance of survival. They’re currently four points outside of the bottom three, but back-to-back defeats in their most recent games will serve as a reality check that there is plenty of football to be played before they can even contemplate a second season in England’s top-flight. Last weekend’s defeat at home to Stoke would have been especially frustrating for Howe as it came against a team who had failed to even score in their last four matches. Another concern is that the defeat makes it one win in their last five home games.
Defeat at home to West Brom last weekend has seen Everton drop into the bottom half of the table and cast adrift of the European places that were declared the aim for the Toffees this season. Despite having 20 attempts on goal and 14 corners in the game, Roberto Martinez’ team were unable to break down a stubborn Baggies team which has increased a building frustration around Goodison Park. There’s no doubt that Everton play some lovely football, and when they are in full flow there are few better teams to watch. That being said, one constant issue since Martinez arrived at the club in 2013 is their inability to defend. So often this season it has been the difference between winning and drawing games, and last week was an example where they done enough to win a game, but ended up taking nothing at all from it. Ironically enough, the two leagues games before last week’s loss was the first time Everton had managed to keep consecutive clean sheets in the league since last April.
There’s no doubting that staying in the Premier League and reaping the financial rewards that comes with it is the only priority for Howe, his playing squad and his owner. Progress in the FA Cup is a distant second but Bournemouth have been able to build a relatively strong squad over the last couple of seasons and it will come into play this Saturday. Saturday’s match will be the first home tie in this year’s competition for the Cherries having won away to Birmingham and Portsmouth and in both games, Howe has utilised his squad and given game time to some of the fringe players. I expect the same again against Everton, but that’s not to say that their motivation will be any less – the ‘weakened’ team has come back from a goal down on both occasions to secure a pair of 2-1 victories.
Everton will certainly be targeting this competition as they have done consistently under Martinez’ reign. It’s no secret that the club crave some silverware as well as European football, and having come so close to a Wembley appearance in this season’s League Cup (going down 4-3 on aggregate to Manchester City in the semi-final), they will be looking to go one better in this. Progress to this round has been relatively straightforward with comfortable victories over lower league opposition. A routine 2-0 home win over Dagenham and Redbridge was followed by a clinical 3-0 success at Carlisle. This will no doubt represent a stiffer challenge but one that they are favourites to win and even expected to by sections of their support.
Bournemouth v Everton Betting Tips
These two played out one of the games of the season when they last met in November in a match that contained six goals. They shared the spoils on that day which is something that Howe will certainly be looking to avoid. The Bournemouth manager will not want to congest his team’s fixture list anymore than is necessary as we approach the business end of the season.
Martinez will field as strong a team as he possibly can as he aims to bring success back to Goodison Park. The agonising defeat to City last month put paid to what would have been a mouth-watering Merseyside League Cup final, and their slide down the league table means that the FA Cup is their only realistic option of making this campaign a memorable one. There is growing pressure on the Spaniard and defeat here would only see that increase.
If this game is anything like the league meeting at Dean Court then we’re in for another treat. Both teams and their managers aim to play an attractive brand of football which is illustrated in their results where there are often plenty of goals. In terms of the outcome, I favour Everton for a couple of reasons. I think there need for a win here is greater as it’s virtually their whole season on the line now, whilst they will also play a full-strength team, and that should prove crucial. I expect it to be another entertaining 90 minutes but the away side should prove too good on this occasion.
Everton 13/10 @ Paddypower
