Marco Silva gets his Goodison Park career underway with an interesting looking home tie against Mark Hughes’s Southampton. Both sides got a point last time out, against Wolves and Burnley respectively and they will both be searching for their first wins of the season in what promises to be a classic mid-table encounter.
English Premier League
Everton vs Southampton
Goodison Park
Saturday 18th August 2018
Kick-off: 15.00 GMT
Match Winner Odds:
Everton – $1.95 – Ladbrokes
Southampton – $4.5 – William Hill
Draw – $3.4 – Bet Victor
Everton
The Toffees have turned to Marco Silva in an attempt to improve their results as well as their footballing style after becoming a little disillusioned under Sam Allardyce last term.
Their 2-2 draw with Wolves was played at break neck speed and is perhaps an indicator of the all action season to come at Goodison Park.
Richarlison was the headline summer signing on the blue side of Merseyside for £40 million and he will be looking to add to his two goals against Wolves here on his home debut.
Form: Last 5 Matches: D L L D W
Southampton
Mark Hughes’s Saints were embroiled in a relegation scrap for the duration of last season and they will be keen to avoid such stress this term.
Familiar problems in front of goal emerged last weekend as they drew 0-0 with Burnley despite dominating the match for long periods.
Danny Ings has been recruited from Liverpool and the former Burnley man is proven at Premier League level and will want to open his account as soon as possible.
Form: Last 5 Matches: D L L W D
Head to Head
Everton dominate the head to head between the teams with a 47:29 lead in the historical head to head whilst another 22 games have ended as draws.
Southampton thumped Everton 4-1 at the St Mary’s Stadium last November before the two teams shared a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park back in May.
Predicted Starting Line Ups:
| Everton | Southampton |
| Jordan Pickford (GK) | Alex McCarthy(GK) |
| Seamus Coleman | Jack Stephens |
| Michael Keane | Wesley Hoedt |
| Kurt Zouma | Cedric Soares |
| Lucas Digne | Ryan Bertrand |
| Idrissa Gueye | Jannik Vestergaard |
| Morgan Schneiderlin | Oriel Romeu |
| Gylfi Sigurdsson | Mario Lemina |
| Theo Walcott | Mohamed Elyounoussi |
| Richarlison | Nathan Redmond |
| Cenc Tosun | Danny Ings |
Odds and Predictions
Everton will look to play attacking football under Marco Silva and Southampton do have strong attacking weapons.
Both teams to score – YES – looks a decent bet at $2.05 with Betfred.
Richarlison hit the ground running against Wolves last time out and will want to impress on his home debut.
Richarlison to score anytime looks a super bet at $2.55 with Bet 365.
This should be an excellent game between two footballing sides that will look to play on the front foot generally.
Over 2.5 goals in the game looks an excellent move at $2.2 with Bet Victor.
There is a real sense of optimism around Goodison Park currently and the Toffees should just about edge this one.
Everton to win the match looks a very good value bet at $1.95 with Ladbrokes.
Score Prediction
Everton 2 – 1 Southampton – $9.5 with Coral.
Top Betting Tip
Both sets of players will fancy their chances here and it should be a real spectacle between two very exciting teams but Everton should just about get the job done in front of their passionate home support.
Everton to win the match and both teams to score looks a very worthwhile punt at $4.6 with 188 Bet.
