Toffees 5-1 to come unstuck

CAN lightning strike twice? Mighty Liverpool were felled by Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup and now their Merseyside rivals Everton are set to roll up to Boundary Park hoping to avoid the same fate.

If Liverpool were caught by surprise at Athletic’s aggression and excellence, you can be sure Everton won’t fall into the same trap.

Manager David Moyes will tell his side they have to match Athletic’s passion and, if they can manage that, their superior quality will do the rest.

But it may not be that simple. Athletic will have gained real belief from their victory over Liverpool and momentum is a huge factor in sport.

That said, the bookies probably have it right in making Athletic 17-2 to win the game in 90 minutes and 5-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

Everton are 4-11 to win on Saturday, with the draw at 4-1. The Toffees are 1-7 to progress to the next round.

As for first goalscorer, Nikica Jelavic is the favourite at 4-1, with Marouane Fellaini second-best at 9-2 — a price that presumably factors in the difficulty of getting his hair through the boundary Park front entrance.

Marauding full-back Leighton Baines could be a likely first goalscorer at 11-1, while Jose Baxter is 12-1 to open the scoring against his former club — the same price as Lee Barnard, who has netted two goals in two games since joining Athletic.

Matt Smith, the goalscoring hero of the Liverpool victory, is 12-1 since he is struggling to shake off a shoulder injury.

Chris Iwelumo, his likely replacement, is 14-1. Robbie Simpson is the same price but, like Smith, has injury to overcome.

As for Athletic’s next manager, Sammy Lee today became hot favourite at 4-5, with Iain Dowie at 9-4, Phil Brown and stand-in boss Tony Philliskirk at 20-1 and Manchester United star and Latics fan Paul Scholes at 25s.

Whoever lands the job will inherit a side priced at 6-5 to avoid relegation from npower League One.