English Premier League side Everton travel to Croatia on Thursday, knowing that they are just one positive result away from a place in the Europa League Group stage. Ronal Koeman’s men are 2-0 up from the first leg at Goodison Park.
UEFA Europa League First playoff round – Poljud, Split– Thursday, 24 August, 20:00 (UK Time)
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Draw Best Odd of: 23/10 at Coral |
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Hajduk Split
EvertonHajduk Split Team News
Hadjuk Split demonstrated during the first-leg between the two sides that they can potentially cause Everton problems, however the Croatian side may well have to play the second-leg in an empty stadium following crowd trouble at Goodison Park. Manager Joan Carrillo faces a big job in convincing his players that they still have a chance of qualifying, with their hopes perhaps lying with Hungarian striker Marko Futacs. The former Portsmouth and Leicester City man has scored 22 goals for Hajduk Split following his arrival at the Stadion Poljud back in 2016.
The Croatians have enjoyed a positive start to the new HNL campaign, winning four of their opening six encounters. Split are a team always capable of scoring a goal, however they are certainly vunerable in defence against the likes of Rooney and Sandro Ramirez.
Everton Team News
Ronald Koeman is under pressure to deliver on all fronts this season, with Everton having invested heavily in the transfer market following the departure of top scorer Romelu Lukaku. With Everton having taken on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Monday night, Koeman may well look to rest some of this star names, even at this early stage of the campaign.
Wayne Rooney has enjoyed a good start to his second spell at the club, with having become the clubs record signing just a week ago. Goals from Michael Keane and Idrissa Gueye have set Everton up nicely for the second leg in Croatia, with the Merseysisde-based club looking to join Arsenal in the Europa League Group stage.
The likes of Tom Davies, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James McCarthy will be hoping to earn rare starts for Everton on Thursday evening.
Head to Head
There is not much to go by when it comes to head-to-head records between the two teams, with Hajduk Split and Everton having met for the first time at Goodison Park last week. Everton may have come away with a comfortable 2-0 victory, however the match was perhaps closer than the scoreline suggests.
Betting Odds and Predictions
With Everton going into the second leg with a two-goal advantage, backing them to qualify for the next round is certainly a likely outcome, with the home side being required to score at least two goals to be in with any hope of causing an upset. Despite the fact that bookmakers Ladbrokes are offering odds of 1/20 for Everton to qualify for the group stage, backing Koeman’s men to simply win in Croatia is much more appealing, with best odds of 21/20 found at the same platform.
However, Split have a fantastic home record, meaning that plenty will potentially be backing them to come out on top. Backing either a Split win or draw using the Ladbrokes double chance markets could well prove to be fruitful, which can be found at odds of 8/11.
Top Betting Tip
Our top betting tip for the match between Hajduk Split and Everton is to back ‘Draw or Everton’ at Ladbrokes, which can be found at 3/10.