Premiership Betting Preview for 2007/08 Season - Everton
8th Jul 2007, 19:33
Forbes magazine’s annual rich list of football clubs published in March of this year showed that ten of the top twenty-five most valuable football clubs in the world play in the Premiership. Their relative positions in that elite group correlate closely with success on the field, underlining the close relationship between spending power and success, the prevailing philosophy of ‘speculate to accumulate’ seems to hold true. The frenetic horse-trading of the summer months is the most important phase in the process of Premiership clubs reorganising and strengthening their squads, providing ante-post bettors with vital clues to next season’s competition. Keep checking the Premiership betting market at PinnacleSports.com to see where the smart money is going.
Everton Set for Solid but Unspectacular Season
This will be David Moyes’ sixth season in charge of Everton, which in the increasingly dog-eat-dog climate of the Premiership, is a decent stint. The Scotsman has achieved a reasonable return from in an inexpensive squad that could be described one of the league’s overachievers. The three most influential players are Spanish creative midfielder, Mikel Arteta, Australian attacking midfielder, Tim Cahill and England striker, Andy Johnson. Arteta and Cahill agreed new deals in June, which provide a huge boost to the club, but rumours have suggested that Andy Johnson is a transfer target for several other Premiership clubs.
Everton are rated as 207.00 in PinnacleSports.com’s outright Premiership market, and are very unlikely to be title contenders. However, their chances of a decent finish in the forthcoming season will be boosted by the key trio remaining at the club, and enjoying an injury free campaign, unlike last term when Cahill and Johnson were sidelined for long periods. Moyes has made the useful addition of Phil Jagielka from relegated Sheffield United. Jagielka is widely recognised as a likely future England player, and was being chased by several other top flight clubs. The ex-Blade certainly fits the Everton mould, being reliable and dynamic; he was Sheffield United’s player of the year for three consecutive years, and played every minute of his last campaigns for the club.
Everton Football Club have been an ever present in the English top flight since 1955, winning the old first division title on four occasions, but are yet to finish better than fourth in the Premiership era. Sixth position last season earned the Toffees a place in the UEFA Cup, but the excitement of that foray into Europe will be tinged by the fear of a repeat of the failure in the 2005/06.
A fourth position finish in 2004/05 earned David Moyes’ side a place in third qualifying round for the Champions league where La Liga side, Villarreal, knocked them out at the first hurdle. A further first round defeat followed as they dropped into the UEFA Cup, and the disappointment from the early exits manifested in a poor start to the Premiership campaign. Evertonians will be hoping that their forthcoming European adventure lasts a little longer and is less of a distraction.
Everton are in the early stages of moving to a much larger stadium, which would allow the club to grow and compete on a more equal footing with its illustrious city neighbour. In James Vaughan and Victor Anichebe, the Toffees have two very promising young strikers, who are likely to see much more action this season, and give hope for the future. For the present however, David Moyes’ squad looks a little light-weight, particularly given their European campaign, and he will be hoping that Tim Cahill returns in one piece from the AFC Asian Cup in July.