The return of the Premier League last Saturday seemed like a false start as Burnley hosted Watford to a snooze fest goalless stalemate. Tuesday night holds far more promise of excitement, with 3 midweek clashes gracing our screens. The game in focus tomorrow is a relegation 6-pointer between Newcastle United and Everton at 19:45 on BT Sport 2. This is a game to get more excited for, Newcastle will be able to give their January acquisitions a run out tomorrow and new Everton manager Frank Lampard will manage his first Premier league game since departing Chelsea just over a year ago. With so many unknown variables going into this match, I’ve been digging through the stats to create my Top 3 Bet Builder tips and a complementary Cheat Sheet to get you prepared for the midweek clash.

Newcastle fan’s mouths had been watering in anticipation of the January transfer window the second the Saudi takeover had gone through. While they didn’t manage to sign Mbappe or Messi, they have had a very impressive window and strengthened in positions that desperately needed it. Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Matt Targett have been brought in to stop the rot at Newcastle for a grand total of £91m. It’s likely that they will all feature in Tuesday’s game, the 1-0 win at Leeds came at the cost of Joelinton, Paul Dummett, and Jamal Lascelles who are in doubt for tomorrow’s game. They’ll join Hayden, Fernandez, and top scorer Calum Wilson in the treatment room so I’m expecting a new look Newcastle line-up. Their victory at Elland Road was their first in the league since the 4^th of December against Burnley and Eddie Howe will be hoping he can secure his first consecutive win as Newcastle manager. They’ll be well backed by a home support in high spirits compared to the start of the season, when Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce were still loitering around St James Park.

Everton welcome Chelsea legend and relatively green manager Frank Lampard back to the Premier League tomorrow. His first game in charge saw them cruise past Brentford in the FA Cup with a convincing 4-1 win. He’ll be hoping to continue his dream start on Tuesday night and get 3 points for the Toffees for the first time since the 2-1 win at Arsenal on the 6^th of December! The departure of Rafa Benitez has got Everton fans in a similar good mood after a terrible run of form that has got them in a relegation dogfight with only 19 points to their name. It would be almost unbelievable at the start of the season to predict that they would be 16^th in the table squaring up against second bottom Newcastle. The quality of the squad should be enough to keep them up this season and they’ve added Premier League players to their squad in Van de Beek, Alli, and El Ghazi. Donny Van de Beek seems like a real coup for an Everton midfield that is sorely missing the injured Doucoure, however Alli and El Ghazi seem like the conflated Everton signings of old that saw them throw money down the drain. Both of these two have done very little in recent times to convince people that they are up to the standard of the league and the suggested figure of up to £40m for the Englishman means he has a lot to live up to.

It’s a tough one to call in Newcastle because both teams are in desperate need of a return to winning ways. The new faces at both clubs give this a degree of unpredictability especially considering the league’s mini hiatus allowing both outfits to regroup. This the first time they’ve met this season and Everton will enter as the favourites to upset the home support. However, Everton fans will remember that Newcastle beat them home and away last season so they will proceed with caution for this one.

---

Newcastle v Everton Bet Builder Tips

Over 1.5 Goals

Newcastle have been a lot of fun to watch this season even when they haven’t been getting the result. Joelinton has played his way back into the good books of Newcastle fans and Wilson has impressed up front for the Magpies. Both of these two will be in doubt for tomorrow’s game but their talisman Saint-Maximin will be in the line up for sure. The Frenchman has been their standout player this season and seems set on a one-man mission to nutmeg every defender in the Premier League. He’s also translating his skills into a decent output this season with 5 goals and 3 assists this season.  New signing Chris Wood will also be looking to open his account for Newcastle and the Kiwi has the skillset to inject some much-needed goals into the Newcastle frontline.

I should clarify, Newcastle have been to watch as a neutral fan. While they’re not exactly banging them in other teams certainly have against them. Their performance on the pitch is definitely deserving of more goals, but consecutive 4-0, 3-1, and 4-0 defeats to Leicester, Liverpool, and Man City respectively in December, highlight their defensive frailties. Their ability to avoid a scoreless match is represented by having the highest number of instances of over 1.5 goals in The Premier League. In 19 of 21 matches this season, there have 2 or more goals at either end of the pitch. That gives them a hit rate of 90% for over 1.5 goals, and this is even higher at home coming in at 91%!

Everton are no slouches in this regard either, they’re not far off with an overall rate of 80% for over 1.5 goals. Looking more closely at the stats, they have an even higher instance of over 1.5 goals away from home. In 9 of 10 of their games on the road there has been 2 or more goals which brings them to Newcastle’s level of 90%.  They’ll be hoping that Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be cleared to lead the line tomorrow, however, Richarlison, Gray, and Townsend have all pitched in for goals in his absence. Considering Lampard’s first game in charge saw 5 goals against a Premier League outfit this makes this selection even more plausible at odds of 1.25.

---

Andre Gomes To Be Carded

Any line-up predictions for this game will be speculative considering all the new blood at the clubs. However, I believe that Donny van De Beek will be warming the bench for a little longer considering the Allan and Andre Gomes pivot was a success on Lampard’s first outing against Brentford. He made a solid claim to make the starting line up for tomorrow’s game with his performance on Saturday and I believe there’ll be minimal changes to the winning formula.

He picked up a booking in the Brentford match for a silly foul to break up a Brentford attack in the 24^th minute. His ability to get booked before the stroke of half time is reassuring if Frank looks to introduce VDB in the second half. As per the Cheat Sheet, he commits an eyewatering 3.86 fouls per game this season. This is by far the most of anyone between the 2 squads and it’s seen him pick up 2 yellows in the league this season. Anthony Taylor has not shied away when it comes to disciplining players this season and has dished out a cool 4.13 yellow cards this season. He’s also tied for top spot with Mossy in average red cards per game with a rate of 0.27! The stats also suggest that Everton have not been keeping their noses clean this season as they are ranked 4^th worst disciplined in the league with an average yellow card receival rate of 2.1 per game.

My final piece of reasoning for this bet is in the form of new signing Bruno Guimaraes. The £40m Brazilian is absent from the Cheat Sheet because his of lack of stats in the Premier League, but I’ve done some research on his time at former club Lyon. He’s almost a guaranteed starter tomorrow alongside most likely Jonjo Shelvey, and he looks set to cause Everton’s midfield some serious problems. Before his departure he was top ranked for fouls drawn in his team by some margin, he managed to attract 3.35 fouls per game on average. This would make him the most fouled player between the two teams playing tomorrow and his style of play as a deep lying playmaker will mean Gomes and co will have to pressure him quickly and forcefully before he releases the ball. A badly behaved midfielder, a card happy ref and a new signing getting a kicking means that this selection looks good value for odds of 2.6.

---

Jonjo Shelvey 1+ Shots On Target

When deciding on selections for bet builders I’m primarily looking for value in the odds. The bookmakers sometimes let slip a selection at baffling odds, considering the probability of the outcome is certainly higher. This is my top value selection for the game tomorrow and might even be worth placing as a single because its available for odds of evens on Paddy Power. The selection in question is Jonjo Shelvey to get a shot on target tomorrow for Newcastle. Even with the new signings it looks like his spot will be safe and will fill in the hole behind the attack tomorrow while Guimaraes will sit deep. This will give the English midfielder greater licence to get forward tomorrow and get a sight of goal.

The reason I believe these odds are great value is because Shelvey nearly averages a shot on target every game! As per the Cheat Sheet, he averages 0.82 shots on target a game this season from a total of 1.54. This makes him the second most likely player from the available Newcastle squad to hit the target just behind Saint-Maximin. His accuracy is reliable too, with 60% of his shots hitting the intended target. This is even more impressive considering that every single shot from Shelvey has been taken outside the box this season! I believe that Shelvey will fancy his chances against notorious flapper Jordan Pickford from distance tomorrow. He’ll still be in contention for free-kick duty, so there’s a good chance he’ll have sight of goal considering both teams are high up on the disciplinary tables. I think this is an essential selection for your bet builder tomorrow and it’s available for odds of 2.0 on Paddy.

---

---

Back the 6/1 Newcastle v Everton Bet Builder below ⬇️

---

Haven’t got a Paddy Power account? You’re in luck…

Sign up to Paddy Power and get a full refund if your first bet loses. Grab an account through the offer below and place £30 on the 6/1 Newcastle v Everton Bet Builder. Here are the two possible outcomes:

---

* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets *

---

Predicted Line-ups

Newcastle predicted XI (4-3-3) : Dubravka; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Targett; Willock, Shelvey, Guimaraes; Fraser, Wood, Saint-Maximin

Everton predicted XI (4-2-3-1) : Pickford; Holgate, Keane, Mina; Coleman, Allan, Gomes, Mykolenko; Townsend, Richarlison, Gray

---

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *

---

How to watch Newcastle v Everton in the Premier League

📅   When is Newcastle v Everton? / Tuesday, 8th February 2022, 19:45
🏟   Where is Newcastle v Everton? / St James Park (Newcastle)
📺   What TV channel is Newcastle v Everton on? / BT Sport 2
🟨   …And who is the referee for Newcastle v Everton? / A. Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿