Frank Lampard’s Toffees look for their second win of the Premier League campaign on the road at Southampton
It has been a busy week for Everton news with the confirmed departure of Allan to UAE Pro side Al Wahda and yet more injury news for the blues. On a positive note, Jordan Pickford looks set to start against Southampton, while Nathan Patterson picked up an injury on international duty with Scotland and looks set to miss 4-5 weeks with an ankle injury. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a question mark for the trip to the south coast as Frank Lampard remains adamant in not rushing back Everton’s #9.
Last match out was a 1-0 win for the toffees against David Moyes and West Ham, where a Neal Maupay thunderbolt was all that separated the sides as a resolute defense kept a clean sheet and secured the first three points of the season. Everton are unbeaten in their last three away matches in all competitions, with a win against Fleetwood Town in the EFL Cup and a pair of 1-1 draws on the road against Leeds and Brentford.
Southampton sit level on points with Everton in the league but behind the blues on GD, but the Saints have lost three of their last four matches with their lone win a surprise 2-1 victory at St. Mary’s against Chelsea. They are led by the 2 goals of Che Adams, a well-known Summer target of Frank Lampard’s side. Ralph Hasenhüttl will be looking for the striker to make a difference in the match, as Southampton has not scored in any of their last three losses in league play.
Southampton lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Adams as their lone striker in the 0-1 loss to Wolves, and again played the same formation in their 0-1 loss to Aston Villa. With Patterson out and Mason Holgate still injured, it remains to be seen how Everton will line up. Lampard has moved away from the 5 at the back and has settled into a 4-3-3 that looks rather strong in the midfield with Onana, Gueye, and Iwobi driving the blues forward and maintaining a solid shape in defense. Lampard could introduce Ruben Vinagre into the starting XI, but has hinted the blues will go with the experienced Seamus Coleman.
The front three likely to be unchanged in Maupay up top with Gray and Gordon either side contingent on the unlikely return of Dominic-Calvert Lewin. the Everton backline will look to cause problems for a Southampton attack that has struggled to score goals, and it feels a game where one goal could be the difference.
About The Author
Leave a Reply