Everton vs Southampton
England Premier League.
Date: Monday, 2nd January 2017,
Kick-off at 15:00 UK.
Venue: Goodison Park, Liverpool.
Reeling team Everton FC (9-10-13, 40 points) will try to put a halt to their five-game winless slide as they face mercurial contender Southampton FC (14-11-8, 50 points) at the Goodison Park this Saturday, April 16th as the 2015-2016 Premier League season slowly winds down to its conclusion.
Everton has drawn its last two matches in the English top flight after previously going on a three-game losing skid. Winless in their last five games, it has resulted to the team dropping to the 12th spot of the league table, although they are still comfortably 13 points above the bottom three relegation area.
The Toffees are coming off a goalless draw with Crystal Palace during their Wednesday night game at the Selhurst Park, as per BBC Sport.
It was the 32nd fixture of manager Roberto Martínez’s boys this season as they now only have six games left to try and leave their current campaign with a bang.
The game also saw the dismissal of midfielder James McCarthy for a second yellow card booking at the 52nd minute as the 10-man Everton squad managed to salvage a tie and share a point in the overall standings.
Irish forward Shane Long netted the opening goal for manager Ronald Koeman’s side right at the fourth minute of the contest to give the hosts an early lead. Italian striker Graziano Pellè doubled the lead at the 38th minute as the Saints went up 2-0 at the half.
Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama added another one ten minutes into the second half of play to bury the Magpies in a deep hole.
Newcastle was able to score a consolation goal though, via a 65th minute strike from midfielder Andros Townsend, but it eventually proved to be futile.
It was the third win in the last six matches for the Saints as they have struggled to string winning runs all throughout the season. They are now settled at the seventh spot in the league table, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City for the final Champions League berth with only five games left in their current campaign.
The predicted result is a 1-0 win for Southampton.
Everton starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Joel; Coleman, Stones, Funes Mori, Baines; Cleverley, Barry; Lennon, Barkley, Koné; Lukaku
Southampton starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Forster; Martina, Fonte, van Dijk, Bertrand; Clasie, Wanyama; Mane, Long, Tadic; Pellè