Southampton vs Everton

St Mary Stadium plays host to Southampton’s must-win Premier League home clash against fellow bottom-half strugglers Everton.

A 1-0 away loss to Aston Villa on the stroke of the international break left Southampton looking back on successive Premier League defeats ‘to-nil’ for the first time since May 2021. In fact, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men have suffered three identical 1-0 losses across their last four Premier League outings (W1), which left them languishing only three points clear of the relegation zone. But after claiming a 2-0 H2H victory in February, Southampton could beat Everton in back-to-back Premier League meetings for the first time since 2014. That prospect looks achievable from the home side’s point of view as they’ve racked up seven triumphs in their last nine Premier League matches against this opposition at St Mary’s Stadium (L2), including a brace of 2-0 wins in the most recent two.

On the other hand, Neal Maupay’s first-ever goal for Everton catapulted Frank Lampard’s side to a morale-boosting 1-0 home triumph over West Ham United last time out, ending their abysmal six-game winless Premier League start (D4, L2). However, the ‘Toffees’ look to be bracing themselves for another season-long struggle in the bottom half of the table after taking their 2021/22 survival battle to the final weekend. Lampard’s men have found the goals hard to come by in the early exchanges, with only two teams netting fewer Premier League goals than Everton (5) thus far. But the Merseysiders have improved on the other end of the pitch, keeping a clean sheet in their last two league outings. Another shutout here would see them register three consecutive top-flight games without conceding for the first time under Lampard.