Premier League: Southampton vs Everton preview

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August 14th, 2015
Back Premier League: Southampton vs Everton preview

Southampton play host to Everton on Saturday at St Mary's after both sides opened their Premier League season with 2-2 draws last weekend. Both clubs are targeting European football this season, so this early test should tell them if they are good enough for the purpose. Last season Southampton defeated Everton 3-0 at St Mary's, with Romelu Lukaku scoring an own goal. Everton won the reverse fixture but they haven't won at St Marys in any of the last six games and failed to score on the last three occasions.

Southampton had a one-goal lead against Newcastle last weekend but then were forced to chase a late equaliser. They even had a good chance of scoring the third goal but Sadio Mane squandered it. Graziano Pelle and Shane Long scored the goals for the Saints while Jay Rodriguez made his first Premier League start in sixteen months. Fraser Forster and Florin Gardos remain unavailable, while Gaston Ramirez might not recover in time. New signings Steven Caulker and Jordy Clasie will also miss the match while Ryan Bertrand has to deal with a knee injury.

Everton started the season with a setback as they were held to a draw at home by newly-promoted Watford. The Toffees came from behind twice to salvage a point, with Arouna Kone bagging the last goal just four minutes before the final whistle. Leighton Baines remains on the sidelines though and history tells us that Everton won just two of their eight league matches without the international left-back last season. More big names are alongside Baines on the injured list, including Steven Pienaar (thigh), Aiden McGeady (hamstring), Darron Gibson (ankle) and Tony Hibbert (knee). Kevin Mirallas is in doubt, along with Muhamed Besic and Gerard Deulofeu.

Probable line-ups:

Southampton: Stekelenburg - Cedric, Fonte, Yoshida, Targett - Davis, Wanyama, Rodriguez, Tadic, Mane - Pelle

Everton: Howard - Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Galloway - McCarthy, Barry, Naismith, Barkley, Cleverley - Lukaku

My prediction: Southampton to win 3-1.

Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:

Souhampton win - 1.95 Draw - 3.60 Everton win - 4.33

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