Everton at Crystal Palace: Writer Prediction League

The international break is all but over, and Everton is still without a permanent manager. Whether or not the slow march to a new leader is a beneficial one is yet to be seen — but it at least makes our lives a little easier when it comes to predicting Everton matches.

David Unsworth oversaw a loss at Lyon and late victory at Goodison Park against Watford in the week before the international break, though neither performance was particularly encouraging. Still, the ludicrously poor form of the Toffees’ next opponent, Crystal Palace, as led us to pretty positive predictions for Saturday’s match.

Let’s start though, with a look back at our predictions for Everton’s last set of matches.

Our picks for the Lyon match were more accurate than we’d have cared for them to be. 9 of us had Lyon winning, three of whom even correctly predicted the 3-0 thrashing.

The Watford match was a little more of a mixed bag. Five of us correctly predicted an Everton win, though no one had the 3-2 scoreline or Oumar Niasse’s man of the match performance predicted. Four writers did correctly guess Richarlison would open the scoring, however.

The double matchweek was good to some of us, and allowed for a change at the top of the standings.

Mike overcame Calvin at the top of the table, while Brian F. further cemented the distinction between the top and middle tiers of our table. With Everton’s Europa League campaign coming to a close in a few weeks, there will be fewer chances for the stragglers to make up distance at the top of the table — which may make a comeback nearly impossible.

That won’t stop the mid-table writers from trying though, beginning this week with Everton’s visit to Crystal Palace. Roy Hodgson’s team has continued to struggle this season, and has shown few signs of improvement. Everton hasn’t exactly been outstanding either though, so the predictions are a little varied.

Only Brian F. has Everton losing to league-bottom Palace, though four other writers foresee a draw at Selhurst Park. Wilfried Zaha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are the most popular picks for opening the scoring, with Oumar Niasse, Wayne Rooney, and Gylfi Sigurdsson also getting votes.

Man of the match voting is pretty scattered though, with DCL, Idrissa Gueye, Beni Baningime, Tom Davies, Niasse, Rooney, Michael Keane, and Sigurdsson all notching votes.