Everton at Middlesbrough: Writer Prediction League

AFC Bournemouth. The week started in somewhat lifeless fashion, with the Toffees toiling to a decent, but unexciting, 1-1 draw against the Potters.

Things were a little more exciting for our writers, as a few of our predictions matched the action relatively closely. Those picks are below, with correct guesses in bold.

Four of 10 writers correctly predicted the 1-1 draw. Calvin and Tom both correctly predicted that Peter Crouch would open the scoring with his 100th Premier League goal, while Tyler correctly guessed that Joel Robles would be voted as Everton’s man of the match.

Writers earn two points for correctly predicting the winner, another two for predicting the score, and one each for picking the correct opening goalscorer and man of the match — so Calvin and Tyler were the best of the first match, with each picking up five points.

Those two continued their stellar form in the Bournemouth match!

Calvin and Tyler also led the way in the Bournemouth match, with each picking up four points, as did Scott. Darren, Tom, and I each picked up three points for correctly picking Romelu Lukaku to get the opener and Everton as the victor.

The rest of our writers earned two points for correctly picking the Toffees to win.

With so many points on the board last week, we saw a major shift in power at the top of the prediction league table. Start by taking a look at the standings coming into this week.

Nine-point weeks for Calvin and Tyler completely changed the top of the table though! The standings are now as follows.

Those two launched to the top of the table, putting significant distance between the upper echelon and the rest of the pack for the first time this season. Sean, Darren, and I are all within reasonable striking distance, but have significant work to do in the coming weeks to close the gap.

The rest of the writers have an even bigger mountain to climb back to the top, but with 14 matches still to go, anything is possible.

There isn’t a whole lot of variety in our writers’ picks for Everton’s match against Middlesbrough this week though, so don’t expect much movement in the standings.

Seven of nine participants this week picked Lukaku to get the opener, with Ross Barkley garnering the other two votes. Four writers picked Morgan Schneiderlin to be the man of the match, with Lukaku, Barkley, Leighton Baines, Idrissa Gueye, and Tom Davies also picking up votes.

Every writer is predicting an Everton victory (perhaps a foul omen), with four foreseeing a 2-1 victory for the Toffees.