Football – England – Premier League
Saturday 26th April 2014 – Kickoff: 1245hrs
Two of perhaps the most stubborn teams in the Premier League face each other at the St Mary’s Stadium in Saturday’s early kick-off when Southampton clash with Champions League hopefuls Everton.
Southampton, up until recent weeks, had been in pretty solid form overall which has been instrumental in them staking a claim for a top half finish, but recent defeats away at Manchester City 1-4 and at home to relegation threatened Cardiff City 0-1 along with a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa shows they have dropped their pace a little with just one Premiership win from their last five (4-0 at home over Newcastle United).
It’s been a very successful campaign overall though for manager Pochettino with his side currently in 8th position and an overall home record of 7-5-5 29/22, The Saints losing just twice in their last seven on home soil. However, if there’s an angle to be had here it’s the fact that Southampton have won just once from seven attempts against top half opposition at St Mary’s, and this could well open the door for Martinez’s men on Saturday.
Onto Everton then, and Martinez has guided the Toffees to another impressive Premiership campaign where they currently reside in 5th place just one point behind Arsenal in what is becoming a straight shoot-out for a Champions League qualifying berth.
An amazing run of seven straight league wins was brought to an abrupt end recently when Everton inexplicably lost at Goodison Park to Crystal Palace 2-3, but the blue half of Merseyside quickly bounced back at home to Manchester United 2-0 which signalled the death-knell for David Moyes in the Old Trafford hot-seat.
So, that’s eight wins from the last nine overall for Everton who possess an overall away record of 7-6-4 21/18, and who have won their last three on the road in succession (3-0 at Newcastle United, 3-1 at Fulham and 1-0 at Sunderland).
The most important thing about this match though in my opinion is the belief that Roberto Martinez has instilled in his Everton side and the tactical nous that he’s brought to the Goddison Park table; with Pochettinoi’s future still in the balance and Everton with a Champions League qualifying carrot dangling before them, I’ll back The Toffees with the round ball here as I’m confident they can at least avoid defeat, with a view to perhaps winning this one 2-1.
Pick: Everton AH0 @ 1.85 Pinnacle
