England Premier League
Saturday 14th August 2021
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: Goodison Park
Match Preview:
If it wasn’t for there home form Everton could have finished in the top 4 last season that’s how consistent the club were on the road. But the Toffee men’s home form was amongst the worst in the Premier League. The good news is that the then manager Carlo Ancelotti and the players didn’t feel the full force of the negativity coming from the stands given that the pandemic had forced the stadium to be closed. That won’t be the case now and Everton will have to produce the goods, at least at Goodison.
There has been much change and history making over the summer. Despite seemingly committing himself to Everton’s future and talking about the new ground move Ancelotti dashed off to be manager at Real Madrid and the board appointed… Rafa Benitez. This is huge news for Everton given that Benitez was of course the manager of Liverpool at one time. This is the first time that a manager has been in charge of Liverpool and Everton in their career.
Overall Everton finished 10th last season and after a very strong start they faded and their season went away from them. The worry is that if some poor form creeps in will the fans be even more angry that it is happening with Benitez in charge? Everton were one of the very few clubs that played in America this summer in the Florida Cup with Moise Kean back from PSG scoring the winning goal against UNAM.
Most recently though Everton lost 4-0 against Manchester United in a friendly. Everton have spent under £2m on players so far bringing in the likes of Demerai Gray from Bayer Leverkusen and capturing Andros Townsend from Crystal Palace on a free transfer.
Southampton had a mixed pre-season, which ended with a 3-1 defeat at home to Athletico Bilbao. They sold Danny Ings to Aston Villa and have concentrated on their back line more. One eye catcher could be Romain Perrau who comes in from Brest in Ligue 1. Theo Walcott is back at the Saints too this season after a free transfer from Everton.
Team News:
Everton: James Rodriguez has Covid-19 and is self isolating so misses this game.
Southampton: William Smallbone is still injured from last season and won’t be back at the earliest until the end of the year
Everton vs Southampton Head to Head:
Last season Everton won this fixture 1-0.
Southampton haven’t beaten Everton away from home in the league since 1997.
3 of the last 5 games have ended in under 2.5 goals.
Everton vs Southampton Prediction:
There is a feeling of a new dawn at Everton but that doesn’t mean the club are going to embark on a positive season. We will know the effect of Rafa Benitez on this group of players very soon, but the lack of some names coming into the team so far does not bode well.
Last season Southampton struggled at times to the point where manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was being rumoured to lose his job and this could be a pivotal season for him. Everton will be the favourites to win but the Saints usually have a better showing in the first half of the season and they will cause a lot of problems for the home side. It’s a new season though and all of those poor home results need to be forgotten about and the bonus is that Everton rarely lose and drop points at home to Southampton, can that continue at the weekend?
Everton vs Southampton Betting Tips:
Full time result (Draw) at 3.40
Correct score: 1-1 at 7.00
Anytime goalscorer: Richarlison at 2.75
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