Southampton are preparing to play Sean Dyche's Everton in the tenth Premier League matchday at the St. Mary's Stadium. This is the fifth home fixture for the Saints after having come very close to securing a first league win in the previous two matches.
Southampton conceded a last-minute 1-1 equaliser against Ipswich Town and conceded another last-minute 3-2 winner against another newly promoted side Leicester City two weeks ago. Russell Martin's side gave away their early lead in both of these matches and thus, the upcoming game against bottom-table side Everton is another great opportunity for the Saints to take some good momentum in the Premier League by securing a first league win.
Paul Merson believes Saints can end winless Premier League streak against Everton
The recent 3-2 win over Stoke City in the Carabao Cup showed Southampton's resilient efforts to find the match-winning goal in the second half and manager Russell Martin is highly likely to make a few lineup changes to face Sean Dyche's side, who are unbeaten in their previous five league fixtures. Both sides have given encouraging performances in the previous few matches but Paul Merson believes that the Saints can put an end to their winless Premier League streak in this match.
Merson predicted the home side to register a 2-1 win against Everton, but the former Arsenal forward believes that this match will be well-balanced with Everton aiming to keep away Southampton from taking an early lead again, saying,
"Everton will know exactly how Southampton will want to play against them. The Saints will take a million chances by trying to play out from the back and Sean Dyche will have a plan ready."Paul Merson
Southampton have improved their finishing inside the box in the recent weeks, and now need to consistently give a reliable defensive display as well. Everton have scored nearly twice the number of goals as compared to Russell Martin's side, who will aim to learn from their previous defensive mistakes and should avoid conceding any last-minute goals to drop some points again in this match.
Now, it remains to be seen whether Southampton can take their first Premier League win in the ongoing season in front of their home fans.