Stoke v Everton
15:00
Stoke were unlucky to be denied a win against Man United by Wayne Rooney’s excellent late free kick last time out, and while Everton have won their last three in the league to nil, their midweek fixture will prove whether they can do it on a cold Wednesday night in Stoke. Everton have won the last two fixtures between these two sides to nil, but Stoke’s unbeaten start to 2017 in the league suggests this will be a challenging fixture for the Toffees.
Everton’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace ended a run of four games in which they had scored over two goals, and given that eight different players have scored in their last four games, they look to have moved on from their early-season dependence on Romelu Lukaku. Stoke’s record against middle-third sides has improved lately: they’ve not lost in their last five against such opposition, and they’ve kept clean sheets in four of those five games. Seven of the last 10 they’ve played against middling sides have seen fewer than three goals, so this could well be a cagey affair.
Stoke have conceded more than one goal in only one of their last nine home games, and given the clean sheets that both they and Everton have kept against middling opposition, we’re going to bet against both teams netting here.
