Writer Prediction League: Everton vs. Middlesbrough, Norwich City

With Everton's schedule continuing to throw weak opponents at the club, the staff at Royal Blue Mersey is continuing to have a pretty easy time of predicting matches!

Last week, the RBM staff was confident that the Toffees would get the job done against David Moyes and Sunderland, and this week that confidence continues against newly-promoted Middlesbrough and second-division Norwich City.

Let's start by looking at last week's picks:

Tom and Brian were both well rewarded for their confidence in Everton's Belgian striker. Recall that picking the right winner (or a draw) and the correct scoreline are both worth two points a piece, and picking the correct opening goal scorer and Everton MOTM earns one point.

So, Brian and Tom were the big winners this week, each picking up four points -- with Tom a late consolation goal from Sunderland away from nabbing the first six-point week of the season!

Ross Barkley managed to make Matt, Mike, and Tyler look pretty silly after the trio picked the English midfielder, who was substituted off at halftime, as their man of the match.

After another successful week for most RBM writers, the scoreboard looks like this:

After a three-point week, Tyler stands alone atop the leaderboard, with Brian, Tom, and I hot on his trail. Matt and Mike are struggling behind the pack, but the season is still young and the more unpredictable matches later in the season will give them a chance to quickly make up ground.

As you might expect, this week features another clean sweep of Everton predictions, with all 11 writers foreseeing double victory for Everton this week. First, let's look at the 'Boro matchup.

Each writer has picked Everton to come out on top over 'Boro, with all but one choosing Lukaku as the game's opening goal scorer. I bucked the trend, picking Bolasie as the match's first scorer.

Lukaku was the joint-top MOTM choice as well, with three writers choosing the Belgian and three choosing Gueye.

Mike is the only writer to choose a three goal margin of victory, with each of the rest of us foreseeing a one or two goal victory for the Toffees.

We have a few more blowouts predicted for Tuesday's EFL Cup match against Norwich.

Once again, each writer has chosen Everton to win the match.

Perhaps the most interesting prediction in this bunch is Mike's choice of Valencia to open his Everton account in this match -- of course, he prefaced that prediction by saying "YOLO," so he may not be particularly confident in that one!

The other interesting choice came from yours truly, who picked former Everton player Steven Naismith to opening the scoring at Goodison Park before a demonstrative Everton comeback.

The unpredictable nature of these matches is clear from our predictions -- our writers have chosen four wingers (Lennon, Deulofeu, Bolasie, and Mirallas) as either the opening goal scorer or man of the match, but at most only three of these players will get a start in this match. This sets us up for some disappointed writers next week!

As always, feel free to share your predictions below or simply let us know what you think of our choices.