In early March, it looked like Newcastle United might be fighting for its spot in the Premier League by the end of the season. The Magpies had just lost to Liverpool 2-0 and were sitting on 29 points through 29 games.
The club was looking not to go right back down to Championship after being one of the three to come up this year and their play over the last month showed it. Newcastle has won four straight matches and are now in the top half of the table and out of the relegation battle. The Magpies will look to make it five straight and potentially jump up to eighth with three points on the road aganst Everton on Monday.
Don't miss the English Premier League action from Goodison Park in Liverpool at 3 p.m. ET on Monday, April 23, 2018. Catch every moment of the match live on NBCSN.
EPL Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Newcastle United +228
Everton FC +130
Draw +222
Over/Under 2 and 2.5
Odds Analysis
Everton has been in the top half of the table for much of the year. The Toffees have been outside of the top six, but not much further back than that. They are 2-2-1 over their last five matches with the only loss coming at the hands of league winners Manchester City.
The Magpies’ four straight wins have been pretty impressive. They hammered Southampton in the middle of March and followed that up with a narrow win over Huddersfield Town at the end of the month. While you can downplay those two victories, Newcastle proved it was for real with wins over Leicester and Arsenal in the last two weeks.
When these teams met earlier in the season, Everton snagged a 1-0 victory in Newcastle. Wayne Rooney picked up a goal in the 27th minute after a goalkeeping blunder from Karl Darlow, and the Magpies were unable to level despite hitting the woodwork twice.
Key Injuries
Newcastle has nothing to report on the injury front coming into this match, which is great news for manager Rafa Benitez. Almost every other club has a major injury or two, but fortune has smiled on the Magpies.
The Toffees haven’t been so fortunate. Everton has five long-term injuries to report. James McCarthy, Mason Holgate, Eliaquim Mangala, and Maarten Stekelenburg are unlikely to play the rest of the year, while Gylfi Sigurdsson continues to miss time. The club is hopeful that Sigurdsson will eventually return, but he will not play in this match.
Player to Watch
Islam Slimani has only played two matches for Newcastle since coming over on a mid-season loan, but he has showed the talent that makes him one of Leicester City’s prized players. Slimani has had a hard time breaking into the starting lineup at Leicester after being a star at Sporting CP, yet he was fantastic in Newcastle’s win over Arsenal.
Slimani came on for Dwight Gayle in the 63rd minute and set up what would prove to be the deciding goal. He showed great chemistry with his teammates despite this being his second game and earned a start against Everton. With just five matches left in the season, Benitez will want to see as much of Slimani as he can. Now that he is healthy, the forward will look to prove his worth to both Newcastle and his parent club.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
With the Premier League season winding down, the biggest thing on the line in most matches is pride. Newcastle’s fans are happy to not have to worry about relegation, but Benitez knows that finishing in the top half of the table would earn him a lot of leverage and perhaps some more money to acquire players in the offseason. At these odds, I’ll take Newcastle to pick up their fifth win.
English Premier League Odds: Newcastle United 2, Everton FC 1
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