Everton v Manchester United – a final push for the top four

An amazing run of form has seen Roberto Martinez's Everton side storm into the Champions League places and having pushed Arsenal into fifth place, the Toffees will be targeting a win in Sunday's fixture at Goodison. Meanwhile, it's been a disappointing first season for David Moyes at Old Trafford but a recent improvement has kept alive Manchester United's faint hopes of a top four finish.

It's all leading up to a tense game but Everton's recent record sees them start at favourites at 6/4 with Paddy Power and BetFred. The visitors continue to struggle against the better sides but you can claim United at 2/1 with < ahref="/claim/stan-james">Stan James with the draw your final option at 12/5 with Bet365.

Since losing at Chelsea back in February, Everton have gone on a run of seven straight victories but there was a hint of nervousness in the way they overcame bottom club Sunderland at the weekend. United's recent improvement means they can exploit any nerves and while the away win looks tempting, a draw could be the most likely outcome here.

Everton's recent surge is even more remarkable as it coincided with a drop in form from their most lethal striker. Romelu Lukaku is just showing signs of getting back to his best however and currently, the Belgian is favourite at 9/2 with Boylesports to open the scoring in this game.

At the time of writing, Boylesports are the only bookmaker to have declared prices in the first goalscorer betting and they show United's Javier Hernandez as second favourite at 13/2. The Mexican isn't guaranteed a starting place so you may prefer team mates Danny Welbeck at 7/1 or Juan Mata, who has finally opened his United account and is quoted at 9/1 with Boylesports again.

Meanwhile, Steven Naismith isn't the most prolific of strikers but having opened the scoring against Arsenal in a 3-0 victory, the Scot is a tempter at 7/1 – also with Boylesports .

Ignoring that narrow win over Sunderland when an own goal from former United player Wes Brown settled the scoring, Everton have been quite prolific in front of goal and the same could be said of David Moyes' team who have scored eight times in their last two league matches.

That should mean that backing both teams to score at 4/6 with Bet365 will prove to be a banker. However, Tim Howard and his defence have been in top form – conceding just one goal in the last four games so if you prefer Everton only to score, the odds on this punt are 3/1 with Bet365. Completing this market is Manchester United only at 4/1 with Bet365 again.

As our final tip for this match, a tentative dip into the correct score betting sees a 2-2 outcome listed at 14/1 with Bet365.

There's so much still to play for in this game with Everton striving for top four and United looking to finish as high as they can but with both teams desperate for points, we think it will finish as honours even.

More About Ryan Sheader

I love horse racing, love football, love a bit of casino action, love rambling about pointless where was I? Oh yeah, and I love life!

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