Everton vs Wolfsburg preview

September 17, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Everton vs ChelseaArguably the most interesting clash on Matchday 1 of the new Europa League campaign will see Champions League hopefuls Everton and Wolfsburg square off at Goodison Park.

After narrowly missing out on a top 4 finish in the Premier League last term, the Toffees did a good job in the summer transfer window, signing Eto’o, Atsu and Besic while securing the services of Romelu Lukaku and Gareth Barry.

The season, however, did not start well for Roberto Martinez and his charges as they couldn’t hold on to their lead in 2-2 draws against Leicester City and Arsenal before losing 6-3 at home to Chelsea.

Everton finally returned to the right track as they defeated West Brom away, keeping the first clean sheet of the season.

The triumph at the Hawthorns is likely to act as a major confidence boost, so you should know the Toffees are 2.15 (23/20) to defeat Wolfsburg on Thursday evening.

Roberto Martinez is unlikely to make too many changes to his starting line-up, although the good news is Sylvain Distin and Samuel Eto’o are back in contention.

Bryan Oviedo, Steven Pienaar, Arouna Kone and Tony Hibbert remains on the sidelines, while Darron Gibson may come into the side.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Howard – Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines – Gibson, Barry – Atsu, Osman, McGeady – Eto’o.

Wolfsburg have been making giant strides over the last few years and the club were even closer to Champions League qualification last term than their next opponents.

However, they, too, had a pretty dismal start to the new campaign and will look to the Everton game as an opportunity to return to the right track.

The Wolves needed a penalty shoot-out to eliminate Darmstadt from the DFB Pokal before losing the opening Bundesliga fixture to Bayern Munich.

And with back to back draws against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hoffenheim next, Dieter Hecking’s side are still searching for the first triumph of the season.

The Wolves are likely to face a difficult task against improving Everton, but bear in mind that away win pays 3.60 (13/5) at Ladbrokes.

The good news is Luiz Gustavo and Kevin De Bruyne should be fit to play, but important midfielder Ivan Perisic continues to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Benaglio – Jung, Naldo, Knoche, Rodriguez – Guilavogui, Gustavo – Caliguri, Arnold, De Bruyne – Olic.

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