Everton have been eased out to 6/5 in bwin’s Premier League relegation odds after upsetting Arsenal 1-0 in Sean Dyche’s first match as manager.
Dwight McNeil’s 60th-minute corner was headed home by James Tarkowski as Dyche, who managed them both at Burnley, made a memorable debut.
“I think the way we played is just exactly what the manager wants,” said Tarkowski. “It’s very straightforward with the manager.
“He gets you to work hard, gets you together as a team, makes you hard to beat, but he wants you to show that personality out on the pitch, that you are a team and together.
“He’s not a complicated manager. He’s very simple, very straightforward, so it’s not hard to buy into what he’s about.
“You’ve seen it already after a week’s work that pretty much everyone has bought into it.
“But we’ve got to keep building on that and it will be down to working hard again and we’ll all go into next week’s game (the Merseyside derby at Anfield) and we’ll look forward to it.”
The Toffees are still in the drop zone but that result improved their points tally to 18 from 21 games.
Wolves are two points better off after thumping Liverpool 3-0 at Molineux and are out to 3/1 in this market.
New signing Craig Dawson and Ruben Neves struck for Wanderers following Joel Matip’s early own goal.
Julen Lopetegui’s side climbed up to 15th after their biggest win for almost a year, with four of their six January recruits starting.
“We got three important points and I think the players made a big effort,” said Lopetegui. “But they are only three points, we have not done anything yet.
“We have to continue looking to the next match. It’s the moment to highlight all the players and even those who didn’t play today, because it’s going to be a task for the squad.”
Welcome fillip for Foxes
Leicester were the other big weekend winners from the teams at the wrong end of the table, with a 4-2 triumph at Aston Villa putting them on 21 points.
The Foxes, who are 11/2, twice came from behind to end a run of five league games without success, with James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho, Tete and Dennis Praet on target.
“It’s been a little while,” Iheanacho told LCFC TV. “But getting this win now, we’re happy, and we can build into the next games.
“We need to do a bit more. It was a good performance, but we need to give more; running forward and back, challenging for first balls and second balls, winning battles.
“There’s a lot of things to work on, but hopefully it’s good momentum for the next games.”
Basement dwellers Southampton stayed stuck on 15 points after going down 3-0 at Brentford and are now 2/5 to fall.
Midfielder James Ward-Prowse stated: “We can only apologise to the fans because we know that’s not good enough.
“I think individually when you step out onto the pitch in the Premier League you have to show up, you have to run your heart out and give everything.
“I don’t feel like we’re doing that at the moment and that’s the disappointing thing.
“We have to be more resilient, we have to be tough to beat at first to give us a chance to go on and win it.
“But when you give goals away as stupid as we have done in the last two games and probably throughout the whole season, it makes your task a whole lot more difficult. It’s only us to blame.”
Cherries rocked by late blow
Bournemouth are second from bottom on 17 points after losing 1-0 at Brighton and have been cut to 2/9 in bwin’s Premier League relegation odds.
Kaoru Mitoma’s 87th-minute header stunned the Cherries and Gary O’Neil said: “I’m disappointed for the lads because they gave a lot, and they deserve some points.”
Leeds are only above the drop zone on goal difference and quoted at 15/8 after going down 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, their seventh league game without a win.
Some fans have had enough of Jesse Marsch and chanted for him to go, but the American is determined to turn things around.
He stated: “It is my responsibility and I understand their frustration and I accept it.
“I have to find a way to turn a lot of the good things that are happening into results or we find ourselves in a stressful situation.
“I understand the frustration and doubts, but internally we have belief here, we do.
“The players are all in, they have given everything they have; we are young and we are trying to put it all together.”
Brennan Johnson’s 14th-minute goal pushed Forest up to 13th with 24 points and they are out to 3/1 to fall.
Boss Steve Cooper admitted his side were not at their best and had Keylor Navas to thank for holding onto the three points.
The former Real Madrid goalkeeper, a three-time Champions League winner, made his debut following his deadline-day loan move from PSG and produced a number of good saves.
Cooper commented: “The obvious talking points are the saves, and rightly so, he deserves all the credit for that, but I loved his composure and game management and decision making, I really enjoyed that part of his performance.”
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