Everton behaved in a most unusual manner on the opening day of the Premier League season by actually performing very well in their 1-0 win at Tottenham.
Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to completely overhaul his midfield from last season seems to have been a good one, but the veteran manager is likely to rest his new stellar acquisitions on Wednesday night.
Everton (-2)
That is hardly good news for Salford, who still have the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Bernard and Tom Davies to contend with if Ancelotti does look to his reserves.
Moise Kean is also likely to replace Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front and will be hungry to prove himself to Ancelotti.
Salford, meanwhile, look set to mount a promotion charge in League Two this season and can do without the distraction of an extended run in a competition that they have no chance of winning.
They scraped a draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Exeter on the opening day of the season and were on the receiving end of an absolute thrashing from Manchester United’s youth squad, so the chances of them coming away from Goodison Park with anything other than another heavy defeat are very slim. We’re on Everton (-2) in the handicap market.
Moise Kean to score anytime
As mentioned above, Moise Kean will want to prove that he can still offer something in Ancelotti’s team at a time when the Toffees finally look capable of doing something positive.
The Italian striker arrived at Goodison Park for a significant amount of money last summer, but failed to really live up to his €30 million price tag.
A return of two league goals in his debut season simply isn’t good enough, even if he was just a teenager, and Kean will have to improve hugely this season.
Having said that, Everton’s win over Spurs felt like a new dawn for the club and supporters may be willing to overlook their poor form last season.
That holds true for Kean, and he may be able to force his way into Ancelotti’s plans with some eye-catching performances in the cup and a goal in this one.
Over 3.5 goals
Salford have now conceded eight goals in their previous two games and, while they fielded a completely different team in their humiliating defeat to United, they didn’t exactly look watertight in the league against Exeter either and they could have found themselves out of the contest at half time if it wasn’t for their opponents’ poor finishing.
Everton have the arsenal to carve the League Two side open and could run up a big score on Wednesday night which is why we like Over 3.5 Goals.
It’s an excellent opportunity for fringe players to stake their claim and the likes of Sigurdsson and Bernard should be no match for their fourth tier opposition, even if Salford’s squad is very good by League Two’s standard.
Tips for Everton v Salford on Wednesday at 20:15
Everton (-2)
Moise Kean to Score Anytime
Over 3.5 goals
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