Everton 2-1 Southampton: Player ratings – 18/08/18
By Chris Hughes
Goalkeeper and defenders
Alex McCarthy – Goalkeeper – 7.5
Macca made five saves over the course of the match against Everton and despite conceding twice he impressed and made some comfortable saves when called upon. At the end of the day, Southampton regularly conceded simple headers last campaign so for the 28-year-old to be keeping those out is reassuring.
Ryan Bertrand – Left-back – 6.5
Bertrand had a decent game at left-back having been brought back from a left-wing-back role to just a standard one in a four-man defence. He attempted to create and fire balls into the box but Jordan Pickford was on form.
Welsey Hoedt – Centre-back – 3.5
After such a surprisingly good game playing alongside Jannik Vestergaard, Hoedt returned to his sketchy former-self as the Dane missed through illness. He regularly miss-timed challenges and was a red card waiting to happen, as his lack of defensive intelligence showed against tricky Everton attackers.
Jack Stephens – Centre-back – 5
Stephens’ lack of aerial dominance was exploited regularly by the Everton players, and luckily the towering Yerry Mina wasn’t fit as he would’ve almost certainly scored. The Southampton man had a better game than Hoedt but it was still sub-par.
Cedric Soares – Right-back – 7
All in all, Cedric had a good game against Everton, despite the fact that Richarlison beat him in the air to score the Toffees’ second of the afternoon. On the front foot he was positive and almost got an assist when his shot was parried by Pickford into Ings’ path.