TipResumen

EVERTON

There is so much more positivity around Everton and that has simply come from the arrival of a manager who is keen on playing attacking football. The fans are not expecting Champions League Football at Goodison Park next season, but they do demand to be at least entertained when they arrive to watch their team play and that is what is expected from Marco Silva. Any doubts on the more positive approach of the new manager compared with Sam Allardyce were put aside judging on the way Everton played at Wolves last Saturday. A controversial red card in the first half made it a much tougher game for Everton, but the 2-2 draw at a much fancied newly promoted club has to be respected, especially if Everton can build on that at Goodison Park where they finished with a solid 10-4-5 record in the Premier League last season. Everton's draw at Wolves means the side have only lost 1 of their last 7 Premier League games, although the concern for some will be they have recorded just a couple of wins in that run. The first home game of the season will come with a great atmosphere for the Everton players and they have only lost 1 of their last 8 games here to end last season. However Everton did record 1 win from their last 4 at Goodison Park under Sam Allardyce. New signings Bernard, Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina are still rebuilding their fitness, although Mina has yet to be spotted in training for Everton. Kurt Zouma could come into the side to replace suspended Phil Jagielka who was sent off last weekend. Richarlison came off after scoring two goals last weekend but is not expected to be sidelined.



SOUTHAMPTON

Mark Hughes may have been the primary reason Stoke City are not playing in the Premier League this season, but Southampton fans will praise the manager for keeping this club in the top flight. It looked like The Saints were doomed when Hughes arrived as manager, but they did just enough to avoid the drop and the hope is they steer someway clear of the bottom three this time around. That isn't a straightforward task for Southampton despite the significant drop from 8th at the end of the 2016/17 season to 17th last season, especially as this has been a club keen to cash in on their players when they have been given a chance. There have been some decent signings made by Hughes this summer, but there were questions about a potential lack of goal threat which may have been highlighted in the goalless draw with Burnley last Sunday. Southampton conceded very late on in their final League game of last season against Manchester City, but that is the only defeat in their last 5 games. It was the 0-1 win at Swansea City to snap a 7 away League game run without a victory which kept Southampton the Premier League last season and they will be looking to get off to a positive start on their travels in the 2018/19 campaign. The Saints had a 3-8-8 away record in the Premier League last season. Maya Yoshida and Stuart Armstrong could both be available for selection this weekend.



HEAD TO HEAD

Southampton took four points from Everton last season with a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park late in the season. That has extended Everton's run to 13 unbeaten against Southampton at home and they have won 9 of those games.



PREDICTION

The big reason Everton were able to move away from the bottom three last season was the strong form they displayed at Goodison Park for the most part. They have been very good at home in recent years and once again reached double digits in terms of home wins in the Premier League which gives Marco Silva something to build on. The 2-2 draw at Wolves showed Everton in good light despite being reduced to ten men and they have made some good additions to the squad which underachieved for much of the last campaign. An attacking style will get the fans very much behind Silva and the players, which is so important to this club, and Everton will believe they are ready for a much better season all around. Richarlison made his debut in style for Everton last weekend but other new faces are not expected to be available for this fixture. That means a similar team to last weekend will kick off this fixture with the potential of Kurt Zouma replacing suspended Phil Jagielka at centre half. The performance was encouraging enough to think Everton can earn the three points here having won all 10 home games in the League agains teams that finished below them in the League table. You have to think that will be the case for Southampton who looked short of quality in the final third during their goalless draw with Burnley last weekend. It was a big performance from Alex McCarthy which prevented Southampton from opening this campaign with a defeat and the goalkeeper is likely going to be very important again in this fixture. Southampton will look to make life difficult for Everton by being set up to be hard to beat, but the players look to have responded to Marco Silva in a positive way and I think Everton will earn the three points barring another early sending off like in the game against Wolves. Everton do have a strong home record against Southampton over the years and I think they will pose enough of an attacking threat to edge out The Saints who scored just 17 away goals last season.