Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium
Date: 26/11/2017
Kick-off: 13:30 (BST)
Match
Everton travel to the St. Mary’s Stadium to square off against Southampton on Sunday and the Toffees will surely be looking to claim a positive result from the encounter following their embarrassment in Europe on Thursday night.
David Unsworth’s chances being appointed as permanent manager of Everton were dealt a huge blow as his side suffered a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Atalanta in the Europa League, which was the Merseyside outfit’s worst ever home defeat in Europe.
Unsworth has kept his job for the upcoming away trip to Southampton and it will now be interesting to see how his side will respond following the humbling against Atalanta.
Everton Team News
THe likes of Ross Barkley, Yannick Bolasie, Seamus Coleman, Ramiro Funes Mori and James McCarthy still remain out injured with long-term problems while Oumar Niasse will also be unavailable after being slapped with a two match ban for diving in the clash against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Nonetheless, Unsworth will be able to welcome back Phil Jagielka into the fold and looks set to form the Everton backline alongside the likes of Michael Keane, Jonjoe Kenny and Leighton Baines in front of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
At the middle of the park, the duo of Idrissa Gueye and Morgan Schneiderlin is expected to continue while the attacking midfield positions could be occupied by Aaron Lennon, Ademola Lookman and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
With Niasse out, it looks like Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be leading the line for Everton while Wayne Rooney also remains an option to choose from for Unsworth.
Probable Lineups
Southampton (Probable XI): Forster; Cedric, Yoshida, Van Dijk, Bertrand; Lemina, Davis, Tadic, Boufal, Redmond; Long
Everton (Probable XI): Pickford; Baines, Jagielka, Keane, Kenny; Gueye, Schneiderlin; Lookman, Sigurdsson, Lennon; Calvert-Lewin
Last Meeting
02/01/2017 Everton 3 – 0 Southampton
27/11/2016 Southampton 1 – 0 Everton
Prediction
Everton claimed a convincing 3-0 victory over Southampton the last time these two sides squared off against each other but it goes without saying that a lot has changed since the clash.
Southampton themselves are not flying at the moment and with both sides desperate to avoid defeats, a score draw could be on the cards this Sunday.
Southampton 1 – 1 Everton
