Mark Lawrenson is backing Stoke City and Everton to draw this evening.
Pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Stoke City and Everton will draw 1-1 at the bet365 Stadium this evening.
Stoke head into the game having had a free weekend with no FA Cup commitments, meaning that Mark Hughes will be hoping that his players are fresh and ready to return to Premier League action.
The Potters drew 1-1 to Manchester United last time out, with a late Wayne Rooney free kick denying Hughes’ men all three points, but with two successive league wins before that, Stoke are in decent form.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman before the game
Currently sitting tenth in the Premier League, Stoke are looking upwards, and could call upon recent signing Saido Berahino when they take on Everton this evening.
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Ronald Koeman’s men also had a free weekend having been knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round, and the Toffees have really found form of late.
Mark Lawrenson
Everton have won all three of their league games in 2017, and kept clean sheets in all those wins over Southampton, Manchester City and Crystal Palace.
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With just two points dropped and two goals conceded in the last five league games, Everton have been superb of late, and sit five points behind sixth-placed Manchester United.
Ahead of tonight’s game, pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks the two teams will draw 1-1 this evening, and praised the form of Everton duo Ross Barkley and Tom Davies, whilst he’s also keen to see Berahino in action for the Potters.
“Everton have found a bit of form, with four wins and a draw in their past five league games,” said Lawrenson. “Toffees boss Ronald Koeman has been busy in the transfer market and, with Ross Barkley’s form starting to pick up and Tom Davies emerging too, there seems to be a bit more urgency in his team now.”
“It will be interesting to see how new Stoke striker Saido Berahino will do following his move from West Brom. He is an extremely good finisher and I think he will perk them up a bit. Both of these sides are in the top half, and for good reason – they both have good managers, who are planners and organisers. Realistically they are both playing for seventh place this season and, as far as Wednesday goes, I think this will be a hard-fought game, with the points shared,” he added.
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