Everton will be looking to make it back-to-back Premier League victories when they make the trip to St. Mary’s to lock horns with Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
Southampton picked up three positive results on the spin from tough fixtures in the Premier League over the past month. They followed up their 1-1 draw against Manchester City with a brilliant 3-2 win against Tottenham Hotspur after the international break.
The Saints then held off Manchester United to pick up another point away from home last weekend. The result moved the club up to 10th in the Premier League with 29 points, 12 points above the relegation zone and four points adrift of ninth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
The south coast outfit have only lost seven of their 24 top-flight games this season, drawing 11 times, but they will need to find a way to turn some of those draws into wins if they are to finish in the top half of the Premier League this campaign.
Everton, meanwhile, endured a torrid first half of the season, and find themselves at risk of falling ever closer to the relegation zone as they sit just five points clear of 18th-placed Norwich. However, the Toffees faithful will hope that the arrival of Frank Lampard in the dugout will turn things around.
The first glimpses of progress are already there as they bounced back from a crushing 3-1 away defeat against Newcastle with an impressive 3-0 win over Leeds last weekend. The Toffees have a tough run of fixtures coming up, with Manchester City, Tottenham and Wolves up next for Lampard’s men. Maximum points from this match would certainly help them create a healthy cushion above the drop zone.
Everton cruised to an emphatic 3-1 victory in the reverse match earlier this season, but they lost 2-0 at St. Mary’s last term.
Team News & Tactics
Southampton
Team spirit: ?
Sharing some of that #FridayFeeling! ? pic.twitter.com/NiN3ht2LYp
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 18, 2022
Southampton will be missing Lyanco, Alex McCarthy, and Nathan Tella due to injuries, but the hosts are generally in good health coming into this game. Jan Bednarek and Mohamed Elyounoussi are in contention to feature here despite picking up knocks against Man United last time out, while Nathan Redmond has also returned to training.
Saints’ boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has no reason to alter the side that took to the field at Old Trafford, given their excellent performance. Fraser Forster will continue to operate between the sticks for the south coast outfit, with the team lining up in their customary 4-4-2 formation in front of him.
Hasenhuttl could opt for a central defensive pairing of Jan Bednarek and Mohammed Salisu, who will be flanked by the impressive full-back duo of Kyle Walker-Peters and Romain Perraud.
Up ahead in midfield, James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu will provide energy and stability from the middle of the park. The former also holds the key from set-piece situations and can be a big threat with his passing range, and the ability to play quality passes to the forwards.
The width in attack will come from the duo of Stuart Armstrong and Mohamed Elyounoussi, who will offer front-foot pressing that is vital to Hasenhuttl’s high-octane style. Finally, Che Adams will start alongside on-loan Chelsea striker Armando Broja, with the latter enjoying a strong campaign at St. Mary’s.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Forster; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Salisu, Perraud; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Elyounoussi; Broja, Adams
Everton
Everton will be without the services of Ben Godfrey, Fabian Delph, Yerry Mina and Tom Davies, who all remain unavailable for selection due to various injury issues. But January arrival Vitaliy Mykolenko will be in contention to make his return. Abdoulaye Doucoure and Demarai Gray are nearing a return and could be back available against Manchester City at Goodison Park next weekend.
? USM Finch Farm
Big smiles at training ? pic.twitter.com/myFA4KNCzx
— Everton (@Everton) February 18, 2022
Toffees boss Frank Lampard could go with a 4-4-2 formation and is expected to stick with the majority of the team that started against Leeds last time out, which means deadline day arrival Dele Alli may have to again settle for a place on the bench. Jordan Pickford is a certain starter in goal, and guarding him would be the centre-back pairing of Michael Keane and Mason Holgate.
Seamus Coleman and Jonjoe Kenny will occupy the full-back positions down the right and left flanks respectively. Allan and Donny van de Beek will take up the holding midfield positions and will be tasked to put the brakes on opposition attacks. But the latter could be given more of the anchorman role, owing to his ball-playing and possession retention capabilities.
Alex Iwobi produced an excellent display last weekend and will look to build on it here, operating down the right. Meanwhile, Anthony Gordon’s emergence on the left-wing remains one of the very few bright spots for Everton this term. Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin will form a two-man strike partnership up top as they look to cause menace and get on the scoresheet.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Kenny; Iwobi, Allan, Van de Beek, Gordon; Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison
Key Stats
- Everton have won their last two league fixtures over Southampton and have only lost once in their last five meetings against them (W3 D1).
- The Toffees won the reverse fixture comfortably 3-1 on the opening weekend, and are vying to complete their first league double over the Saints since the 2001/02 season.
- The hosts are unbeaten at home since September, when Wolves ran out 1-0 winners, boasting an eight-game unbeaten streak (W3 D5).
- Everton have lost six of their last seven away Premier League matches and have won only one top-flight game on the road all season.
- Southampton are turning into draw specialists at home, having drawn five of their last six home matches in all competitions.
Player to Watch
Armando Broja
Broja’s meteoric rise to prominence has been one of the season’s biggest success stories, with the Chelsea loanee taking to the Premier League like a duck to water. Currently the Saints’ top scorer with eight goals in 24 appearances in all competitions, the Albanian striker is absolutely critical to the way Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side functions.
Regarded as one of the hottest young striking talents in English football, Broja’s impressive displays have caught the eye of big clubs, including Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. At the same time, one might argue that he could lead the line for even Chelsea. Nevertheless, Broja is getting better and better with each passing game and will look to add to his tally of six top-flight goals here.
Prediction
Southampton 2-2 Everton
This could be an exciting contest between two sides with a lot of talent up front. Southampton were superb at Old Trafford and should be confident, but Everton are making good strides under Lampard. The Saints have not kept a single clean sheet in their past 13 league games in a row. But they have scored at least once in each of their last eight, which suggests a high-scoring draw could be on the cards.
