Everton vs Southampton

Everton are set to launch their 2021/22 Premier League campaign this weekend as they entertain Southampton at Goodison Park.

Everton’s hopes of improving on a mediocre tenth-place finish last season are running low following an uneventful summer that saw manager Carlo Ancelotti leaves Goodison only to be replaced by Rafael Benitez. On a more positive note, the ‘Toffees’ will hope for a flying beginning to this Premier League campaign after starting their last nine domestic league seasons without a loss (W3, D6). Additionally, the Merseyside giants have not only avoided defeat in 21 of their previous 22 home league matches against Southampton (W15, D6), but they are unbeaten in their last 16 such encounters in a row since going down 2-0 in November 1997. Everton may take encouragement from how they started last season, as they netted 12 goals across their first four Premier League fixtures to win all of them.

In the meantime, an underwhelming 15th-place finish in 2020/21, coupled with Danny Ings‘ departure for Aston Villa, indicates another disappointing season for Southampton could be on the cards. Moreover, the ‘Saints’ have won their opening match in just one of their last 14 Premier League campaigns (D7, L6), courtesy of a 1-0 triumph over West Brom in 2013/14. Their hopes of improving that record this time around may be quickly dampened when looking at Southamptons‘ away form at the tail-end of last season as they lost five consecutive league trips to conclude the 2020/21 campaign. Southampton’s form wobble on the road has been a glaring problem for the visitors in 2021, with Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men picking up only a single win in 11 top-flight trips this calendar year, losing the other ten.

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