Everton vs Boreham Wood Predictions

• Boreham Wood are yet to concede in the FA Cup, keeping clean sheets against League One Wimbledon and at Championship side Bournemouth.
• The Wood are likely to line up to defend and frustrate their hosts.
• Everton have failed to score a first half goal in eight of their last 12 games across all competitions.
• The Goodison Park club should still have enough quality to win this tie inside 90 mins.

Trip to Goodison awaits FA Cup heroes

Everton come up against Non-League opposition in the FA Cup fifth round on Thursday as they face National League side Boreham Wood.

The Wood have enjoyed a fantastic run in the competition this season after winning 1-0 at National League rivals Barnet in their first game. Since then, the Hertfordshire club have beaten Eastleigh, rivals St Albans, League One club Wimbledon and Championship promotion chasers – all without conceding – to set up this televised clash against Premier League outfit Everton at Goodison Park.

Everton go into the game on the back of two straight defeats but they were unlucky to lose 1-0 at home to Manchester City at the weekend. I’m expecting boss Frank Lampard to name close to his best XI with a place in the quarter-finals at stake, and no Premier League manager will want to risk a defeat against fifth tier opposition in a cup game.

Fairytale set to end for Boreham Wood

The visitors have enjoyed some incredible results in this competition but even with the ‘magic of the cup’ taken into account it is hard to see them getting a result at Goodison Park. Since 1995, only 10 Non-League clubs have reached this stage of the competition and only one has managed to progress further – Lincoln City in 2017.

The Imps did manage to dump out Premier League club Burnley during that awesome cup run but they were then thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal in the last eight.

Boreham Wood’s defensive resolve has been clear to see during the FA Cup and the fact they are yet to concede in the competition suggests they can frustrate Everton, but ultimately I expect the Merseyside outfit to win the game in 90 minutes. Going for an Everton win at 1/7 has no real appeal, but one bet that does stand out is the second half to produce the most goals.

Luke Garrard’s will almost certainly line up to defend and see what they can get on the counter or from set pieces. Everton have been fairly slow starters of late and have failed to score in the first half in eight of their last 12 games, so they may need some time to break Boreham Wood down.

Visitors can claim respectable result

The Wood may have managed clean sheets in all of the previous rounds but Everton should be a step up in class too far. The Merseysiders have home advantage and overcame league rivals Brentford 4-1 in the previous round, before then seeing off Leeds 3-0 in the league in their following home game. Going for a correct score prediction between two sides who are so far apart in the football pyramid is a tough task, but given how Boreham Wood have conducted themselves in this tournament they should be able to keep the scoreline respectable and a 3-0 win for Everton has some appeal.