After finishing as the best of the rest last season, Everton have grabbed the attention this summer with some big money transfer activity and have ambitions of breaking into the top six in the 2017-18 season. Can they do it? Read our essential Everton Premier League preview.
Last Season
Ronald Koeman’s first season in charge at Everton ended as a qualified success. Eleven league defeats was too many for a club with top four ambitions, and early exits from both domestic cup competitions was also a disappointment. But although a final position of seventh does not rate as their best Premier League performance, they finished a long way clear of Southampton in eighth, and qualified for the Europa League.
Bookmakers’ Predictions
Although Everton have been spending big this summer, bookmakers have remained sceptical about their chances of seriously challenging the six teams above them. They are generally rated as the seventh favourites to win the Premier League, and are available at odds of 125/1 with BWin to reach the summit of English football. That view of the Toffees as the seventh best team in English football is evident in the prices available in the other main Premier League markets. BetVictor are best-priced 3/1 about Everton finishing inside the top six, while you can back them at 10/1 with Ladbrokes if you think they can make the top four.
When it comes to the Europa League, bookmakers generally make them fifth or sixth favourites, and you can back them at 25/1 with Boylesports if you think they can attain European glory. On the other hand, if you think things could go disastrously wrong, you can back them at 9/2 with Coral to finish the season in the bottom half of the Premier League.
What do the punters think?
Punters appear to be far more optimistic about Everton’s prospects than the bookmakers. The fever of transfer speculation around the club and the ambition of Everton’s owners seem to have convinced punters that the Merseysiders are the most likely improvers among the top seven. Everton have been by some distance the most popular bet in the Top Four market, accounting for just under 30% of all bets taken, according to a well-known odds comparison site, and they have also been heavily backed in the Premier League Winners market, where they rate as the third most popular choice behind Manchester City and Arsenal.
Key Players
Few clubs in Europe have been as active in the transfer market as Everton. Their most expensive acquisition to date is goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who will be the first choice number one when the season gets underway and can be backed at 12/1 with Paddy Power to win the Young Player of the Year award. Among the other notable purchases, former Malaga striker Sandro Ramirez has attracted some interest in the Premier League Top Scorer market and is available at 50/1 with BetVictor, while Wayne Rooney is a tempting 80/1 with BetWin and 100/1 with SkyBet in the Player of the Year market.
Transfer News
As the season draws closer, there is no sign of the Everton spending spree coming to an end. Swansea have attempted to deter the Merseysiders from signing Gylfi Sigurdsson with a £50 million asking price, but that may not be enough and he is as short as 1/2 with Paddy Power to make the switch to Goodison Park. Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud is another Everton target, available at 10/11 with Betfred to move north, while Leicester’s Demarai Gray is 2/1 with Paddy Power to sign for Ronald Koeman’s men and you can get 4/1 with BetVictor about Burnley’s Andre Gray being an Everton player by the time the transfer window closes.