Everton will entertain Southampton at Goodison Park on Saturday evening looking to continue their recent good run of positive results in the league. However, Sam Allardyce’s men will face off against a Saints side who will be desperate for points which would help them ensure their Premier League lives for another season.
The visitors are currently sitting in the 18th spot in the league standings with just a point separating them from safety. A victory at Merseyside could go a long way in helping them in their quest to save themselves from a potential relegation at the end of this season.
The recent history of this fixture makes a grim reading for the home team as they have lost two of their last four meetings with the South-coast club. Sam Allardyce is expected to stick with his favoured 4-2-3-1 and might consider naming an unchanged side for this contest. The Toffees have already managed to get past one relegation-threatened side last weekend so the Goodison faithful will reckon that their team can repeat the same feat in this gameweek and come away with a positive result on Saturday.
4-2-3-1 Everton Lineup To Face Southampton
Defence
Jordan Pickford should start in goal for the Blues of Merseyside and will be guarded by a back four consisting of Michael Keane and Phil Jagielka in central defence while Leighton Baines operates as the left-back and Séamus Coleman might start on the right side of the backline. Sam Allardyce is expected to stick with the same back four that was able to keep a clean sheet against Huddersfield Town in their last league outing.
The Toffees’ defence has kept three clean sheets in their last four league matches which means that they would be confident about putting in another solid display at the back versus the Saints this weekend.
Midfield
The midfield pair of Idrissa Gueye and Morgan Schneiderlin could be unleashed at the centre of the park as the holding midfielders while the trio of Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney and Nikola Vlašić will play ahead of them while looking to cause some problems in the opposition half.
Attack
Cenk Tosun is expected to lead the lines for the Merseysiders up top. He found the back of the net versus Huddersfield Town in the last gameweek which should give the Turkish forward some confidence to get his name on the scoresheet once again against this Saturday when he laces up to take on the South-coast outfit.
