Everton vs Southampton: Saints and Toffees face off in delayed cup tie
By Marc Walker
Southampton travel to face Everton tomorrow evening as the two sides play their delayed Carabao Cup Third-Round tie at Goodison Park.
This match was due to be played last week along with the other scheduled fixtures but complications with the arrangements of when both Liverpool vs Chelsea and Everton vs Southampton could be played saw it shifted on a week.
Everton got to this stage with a fairly comprehensive 3-1 win over Rotherham United. A Dominic Calvert-Lewin double and a Gylfi Sigurdsson strike helped Marco Silva’s side see off their Championship opponents.
Mark Hughes’ Saints had to wait until the 88th minute to overcome Brighton in the Second-Round. Charlie Austin’s header won the tie and gave the team their first win of the 2018/19 season.
Both sides come into this one after contrasting results at the weekend though. Everton beat Fulham 3-0 at Goodison Park, whilst Saints struggled overall in their 2-0 defeat to Wolves.
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Why Everton will win
The Toffees are in the better form going into this contest and the troubles that Saints find themselves in could help them here.
Attacking talent also runs through Marco Silva’s squad and his line-up will still include a number of high-quality players despite the changes expected.
Hungry young players such as Calvert-Lewin, Jonjoe Kenny and Kieran Dowell will also be wanting to make an impression with every chance they get.
Why Southampton will win
With changes more than likely from Mark Hughes too, he will be hoping that the fringe players he picks give him some food for thought ahead of upcoming league games.
The team seem to be in a bit of a rut and it could be changes to the regular starting line-up that help the team to claim some results.
Places in the team for the likes of Maya Yoshida and Oriol Romeu in particular are up for grabs with the defensive department of the side looking vulnerable.
Predicted line-ups
Everton
Goalkeeper: Maarten Stekelenburg
Defenders: Jonjoe Kenny, Mason Holgate, Kurt Zouma, Lucas Digne
Midfielders: Kieran Dowell, Tom Davies, Gylfi Sigurdsson
Forwards: Sandro Ramirez, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Oumar Niasse
Southampton
Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn
Defenders: Jack Stephens, Jan Bednarek, Maya Yoshida, Matt Targett
Midfielders: James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Steven Davis, Stuart Armstrong
Strikers: Manolo Gabbiadini, Sam Gallagher