Everton will be looking for a return to the top-four as they travel to Wolves and Tom Carnduff has a best bet to back at 23/5.
Football betting tips: Premier League
1pt James Rodriguez to score anytime at 23/5
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Wolves v Everton
- 20:15 GMT on Sky Sports Premier League
- Match odds: Home 7/5 | Draw 21/10 | Away 21/10
Everton's 21/10 price on victory looked like decent value before Carlo Ancelotti's press conference on Monday. The Toffees' boss confirmed that Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be missing while Richarlison will be a last-minute decision. To have those two absent would be a huge blow to their chances of success.
Squad depth remains a concern for Everton. Once you start taking players out of the line-up, the lack of quality to come in and take their spot becomes evident. They lost all three games during Richarlison's suspension but deserve some credit for picking up results in the absence of full-backs and their main creator in James Rodriguez.
Thankfully for them, Lucas Digne and Rodriguez should be available for selection with both having involvement in the 2-1 extra-time victory over Rotherham at the weekend. While they would have preferred to get the job done in 90 minutes, it can be expected when you make a number of changes. Everton also had a goal ruled out late on for offside.
Rodriguez is a player well worth following during this game. Injury has disrupted his campaign so far but he has still contributed three goals and five assists across 13 games in all competitions, that includes the assist for Abdoulaye Doucoure's winner against Rotherham.
The concern for some was how the majority of those numbers came at the start of the season, but as Paul Macdonald explained in December, his performances weren't suffering and he was consistently hitting a high level. With less focus on Calvert-Lewin or Richarlison to strike, Rodriguez represents good value at 23/5 for a goal here.
Fitness isn't too much of a concern after playing in that win over Rotherham. He needs competitive minutes following his recent injury and a start in the FA Cup, coming not long after an appearance off the bench against West Ham, will have helped to get him up to speed.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti confirmed: "He has to train properly, as he trained the last week, and he has to play. The fact that he played 99 minutes in the cup helped him to have a better condition for the future, that’s for sure."
It's a shame Rodriguez has had a couple of injuries to contend with because we were looking at him potentially replicating his 2014/15 campaign, where he scored 17 goals and assisted a further 18 across all competitions with Ancelotti his manager at Real Madrid.
He's still only 29 and injury shouldn't define his season, there is still that quality level of player in there that can contribute in front of goal. His ability from set-piece situations is a positive but he can find the net from open play; his last three starts saw a combined eight shots but no goal to come from it.
Wolves' defensive efforts haven't been the best in recent weeks and they have been struggling to keep clean sheets. They did keep a lacklustre Crystal Palace side out in the FA Cup, but they conceded in all ten of their games prior to that victory. Having scored in six of their last eight, Everton can be confident of a goal here even with two of their main attacking threats out.
We can't completely disregard Everton's chances of three points, even with those injuries and the doubts about the strength of the wider squad. They did demonstrate an ability to win with key players missing throughout December and this is a Wolves team with nine points gained from their last possible 30.
The Toffees also travel well and possess the fourth-best away record in the Premier League. A point would probably be a fair outcome, but rather than settle for the 21/10 on the draw, it's worth looking bigger and backing Rodriguez to make an impact on his full Premier League return.
Score prediction: Wolves 1-1 Everton (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Wolves v Everton best bets
Opta facts
- Wolves have lost one of their six home Premier League matches against Everton (W2 D3), a 0-3 defeat in April 2011 under Mick McCarthy.
- Everton lost 0-3 against Wolves in their last Premier League match against them in July – they haven’t lost consecutive league games against them since September 1979.
- Only Sheffield United (20) are on a longer current run of Premier League games without a clean sheet than Wolves (10), with Wolves conceding the first goal in nine of these 10 games.
- Everton are looking to win three consecutive Premier League away games without conceding for the first time since December 2008, following victories at Leicester and Sheffield United last month.
- After a run of six Premier League games in which they conceded at least twice in October/November, Everton have shipped just four goals in their last seven in the competition and never more than once in a match in that run.
Odds correct at 1530 GMT (11/01/21)
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