Premier League Betting: Man Utd v Everton

Premier League / Mike Norman / 20 November 2009 / Leave a Comment

Manchester United's strong centre-back Nemanja Vidic is set to return to action on Saturday but opponents Everton have a catalogue of unavailable players

Best Bet: Back Under 2.5 Goals @ [2.1]

Also: Back 1-0 to United in Correct Score market @ [7.4]; Back 2-0 to United in Correct Score market @ [7.4]

ESPN's live Saturday teatime game may be an exciting one on paper, but it's a fixture that has provided few goals in recent years and is likely to do so again says "Mystical" Mike Norman. Best Bet: Back Under 2.5 Goals at [2.1].

Tables can be deceiving you know... and I'm not talking about the ones that appear to have four strong legs only for you to lean on them and fall flat on your face. I'm talking about league tables, whether it be Premier League, Champions League or whatever.

Take Manchester United for example - hosts to Everton this Saturday teatime in which they can be backed at [1.42] for victory.

Looking at the Premier and Champions League tables you'd be forgiven for thinking United are at, or close to being at, their best. Third in their domestic league within touching distance of the leaders, and being top of Group B in European competition might read well, but the reality is that United have been below par for almost two months now.

During this time Sir Alex Ferguson's men needed an injury time own goal to avoid defeat at home to Sunderland, narrowly beat struggling Bolton at Old Trafford, lost to out-of-form Liverpool as well as losing to title rivals Chelsea, and had to come from 3-1 down at home to CSKA Moscow in order to avoid an embarrassing Champions League defeat.

Thankfully then - for United fans at least - Saturday's opponents Everton ([11.0] for victory) are in much worse form, as well as being beset by a mountain of first-team injuries.

Whilst United are set to welcome back Nemanja Vidic (though Rio Ferdinand is still absent), David Moyes faces a selection headache with serious doubts over Tim Howard, Jack Rodwell, Steven Pienaar, Louis Saha and Jo. On top of this Everton are already without Phil Neville, Phil Jagielka, Leon Osman, Mikel Arteta, James Vaughan and Victor Anichebe. It leaves Yakubu as their only recognised striker available... and he's just come back from nearly a year out!

And before I go on to discuss Betfair markets, I should also point out that Diniya Bilyaletdinov, Everton's quality looking Russian midfielder, is suspended for the game.

I was seriously considering taking on United for this encounter but upon seeing the length of their opponent's list of unavailable players I've changed my mind. Everton can boast just one victory (a narrow one against struggling West Ham) in all competitions since October 1st and that's almost certainly not going to change on Saturday.

What I do like about a David Moyes side however is that they have a terrific team spirit and work ethic, and I'm going to suggest that these two key attributes, as well as recent history, will be enough to keep the score down.

Just seven goals have been scored during the last five Man Utd/Everton meetings with the scorelines reading 1-0, 1-0 and 2-1 to United and 0-0 and 1-1 draws. I cannot believe then, that Under 2.5 Goals is available to back at [2.1] and so I'm making this my best bet of the game.

If you disagree with me - and many of you will - then Over 2.5 Goals is available to back at a surprisingly low (to me anyway) [1.88].

If it is to be a United victory with few goals being scored then it has to be virtue of a 1-0 or 2-0 scoreline. Both are available to back at [7.4] in the Correct Score market and I have no hesitation in backing them both.

I thought long and hard about having a saver on 0-0 at [14.0], but given that United (whatever form they are in) usually score at least one at home then I will give it a miss on this occasion. In the interest of animal welfare however, I will remove the cat from my living room if the game is goalless with a few minutes to go!

I have no desire to get involved in the First Goalscorer market, but if this is your cup of tea then Wayne Rooney should be available to back at around [5.0] once the market materialises, followed by Dimitar Berbatov ([6.0]) and Michael Owen ([7.0]).

*The game is live on ESPN this Saturday - Kick-off 5.30pm