Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It may be an incredibly curtailed programme of Premier League action this weekend with only three games taking place Today and one tomorrow but still allows us to see 7th take on 8th as Everton play host to West Brom at Goodison Park this Afternoon.
Both teams come into this game off the back of defeats, Everton may have lost 3-2 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane last Sunday which suggests it was a close game but the scoreline arguably flattered Ronald Koeman’s side who took advantage of two Tottenham lapses to get on the scoresheet.
After an impressive run of form which saw The Toffees go 9 games unbeaten the performance against Tottenham certainly raised a few eyebrows as until the 80th minute when Romelu Lukaku managed to half the deficit they had not really turned up.
Regardless of the result they would stay 7th though and it will be the same case Today as they have a 4 point gap over opponents West Brom but with that particular place possibly being one that could offer Europa League football next season the race to be the best of the rest could very well heat up.
The game and perhaps the rest of the season for Everton will be played among a backdrop of whether or not Ronald Koeman will be the next man in the Nou Camp hot seat come the start of the next season. He may not be the bookies favourite but with his links to the club you certainly cannot rule him out of the running.
One man we can rule out of the running even though he has led West Brom to 8th this season is Tony Pulis. They missed the opportunity to close the gap to Everton last weekend after a 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace which saw Sam Allardyce win out in the battle of the Premier League managerial titans.
In all fairness it was somewhat of a surprise result what with the wide difference in form between the two clubs this season but West Brom will not rest on their laurels for too long especially as Pulis simply will not allow it and they will be set to give Everton a stern test this Afternoon.
That defeat to Palace was a first in 5 matches for The Baggies and a minor blip on their season so far, with a 5 point gap over local rivals and one of Pulis’s former clubs Stoke in 9th the West Midlands can still afford to look up the table rather than over their shoulders.
Whether they can bounce back at Goodison though remains to be seen especially as Everton will be looking to do the same after a disappointing effort in North London last weekend. Everton will go into this game as favourites and I would imagine they will leave up to the tag. A home win for me.
