ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - EVERTON V NEWCASTLE UNITED

English Premier

2012-05-13 - Everton vs Newcastle United

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Everton v Newcastle United
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 13 May 2012 - Kick Off 3pm

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Everton

If Everton can finish in the top seven, this will be seen as a very successful season even though they just failed to make it into the Final of the FA Cup. David Moyes has spoken about finishing in the top half as being beyond his squad at the start of the season, so finishing as high as 7th is exceeding expectations.

The side are 7th in the table and have the added bonus of potentially finishing above local rivals Liverpool. At the moment, Everton are one place and one point above Liverpool and will wrap up this position as long as they get the win on Sunday. They have a 9-3-6 record at Goodison Park this season, scoring 25 goals and conceding 14 in those games.

They are unbeaten in their last 8 games in the Premier League, although they have drawn 3 of their last 4. Everton have actually won their last 3 home games in the League, keeping clean sheets in each of those wins, and they have lost just 1 of their last 12 here in all competitions.

Leighton Baines, Phil Neville and Darron Gibson are all hoping to return to the side for this final game of the season. Jack Rodwell and Victor Anichebe have both been ruled out until next season.

Newcastle United

No matter what happens on Sunday, this has been a season of so many highs for Newcastle United and the fans must be extremely proud of what Alan Pardew has accomplished already. However, they are still in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League if they can win this game and either one of the two clubs immediately above them slip up.

Newcastle can finish no lower than 5th in the Premier League and they sit just one point behind Tottenham Hotspur in 4th and two points behind Arsenal in 3rd place. However, they cannot rely on their goal difference which is vastly inferior to both North London clubs so anything less than a win would mean they will play in the Europa League next season. The team have a 8-3-7 away record, scoring 26 goals and conceding 31 and only the two Manchester clubs have more away games this season.

They have actually lost 2 of their last 3 Premier League games coming into this one, but they had won their previous 6 games in the League before this run. Newcastle have actually won 3 of their last 4 away games in the League, although the exception was a 4-0 loss to Wigan Athletic. They have now played in 12 away games in all competitions since they last were involved in a draw, winning 6 and losing 6 of those games.

Danny Simpson has been ruled out, while Leon Best is not going to return to the squad until next season.

Head to Head

Newcastle United beat Everton 2-1 at St James' Park earlier this season.

The Magpies also beat Everton 0-1 at Goodison Park last season and they are unbeaten in their last 2 visits to this ground. However, Everton had won their previous 4 games at home against Newcastle before those results.

Prediction

This is a tough end of season game to predict, but you have to think motivation will be high for both teams as Everton look to finish above Liverpool and Newcastle United hope to sneak into the Champions League.

I believe the pick has to be Everton in the match as they have really been performing well in the second half of the season and have been particularly effective at Goodison Park where they have won a lot of games recently.

Newcastle had been in great form, but they may just have hit the buffers a little with 2 losses in their last 3 games and I think they could feel the pressure if they do fall behind. It has been a long season for them and they have already secured a place in Europe so they may not have the fight in them if they do fall behind.

At odds against, I'll take a small interest in Everton.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :

I'll back Everton - 0.75 Asian Handicap @ 2.60