Coventry City vs Everton Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Premier League

Everton return to Hill Dickinson Stadium on Friday night seventh in the Premier League and four days removed from a 1-0 win at Newcastle United, and Coventry City arrive in Liverpool as the only side in the division without a draw, a team that has won three and lost six and lives on the edge in every match it plays.

The Matchup

Everton come home seventh in the Premier League at 3-4-2, and the last week explains the rise. They beat Newcastle United 3-1 in the EFL Cup at this ground on October 29 and then went to St. James' Park and won the league rematch 1-0 on November 2, a pair of results built on the same habits, a settled back line in front of Jordan Pickford, who has made 25 saves this season, and patience in front of goal. Thierno Barry leads the side with 4 goals in nine matches and a team-high 30 shots, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has added 2 goals and an assist from midfield, so the threat is narrow but it is real.

Coventry City sit sixteenth at 3-0-6, the only side in the division without a draw, and their season swings between afternoons like the 3-1 win over Sunderland on October 31 and the quiet defeats that follow them on the road. They have scored twice in four away matches and conceded 16 goals in nine games overall, the leak this Everton side is built to exploit.

Jack Rudoni is their top scorer with 3 goals, and Brandon Thomas-Asante has 2 assists, but the supply thins away from home. Neither club has named its side yet. Everton are expected to keep the shape that won at Newcastle, with Barry expected to start again, while Coventry are expected to stay in the shape from the Sunderland win, with Rudoni behind the front line.

Key Factors

The away split is the heart of this one. Coventry's two away goals all season have come across four trips, and a side that creates that little on the road puts its whole evening on its defense, which has already given up seven goals in those same four matches. Everton are not a free-scoring side either, with nine goals in nine matches, but their home return of five goals in four matches at Hill Dickinson Stadium is steadier, and James Tarkowski, a goal and an assist from center back, gives them a set-piece route that Coventry have to defend as carefully as Barry himself.

The honest counterpoint is Coventry's rest and their refusal to draw. The visitors have had six days to prepare against Everton's four, and a record with no middle result all season means Coventry will not settle for a point if the game is level late.

If Coventry score first, Everton have to open up in a way that does not suit them, and Rudoni has the quality to punish a side chasing a game. A level game deep into the second half is a live problem for the home side, not a formality, and Everton's margin for error is thinner than the gap between seventh and sixteenth suggests.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.