Royal Blue Mersey - Everton at Southampton: Premier League Matchday 23It's a grand old team to supporthttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52544/royal_fav.png2019-01-20T20:53:46+00:00http://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/rss/stream/179648322019-01-20T20:53:46+00:002019-01-20T20:53:46+00:005 Telling Stats from Everton’s Bleak 2-1 Defeat Southampton
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<p><em><strong>Confidence low as Blues’ struggle to create once more</strong></em></p> <p id="UEvys0">There’s no doubt about it, <a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> are suffering from a crisis of confidence right now. Ever since the freak goal in the derby, the Blues haven’t looked the same force they were in October and November.</p>
<p id="BltV0c">But is it just confidence? Or is there another force at play to explain’s Everton poor form?</p>
<p id="gcVrXl">Let’s take a look at the numbers…</p>
<h2 id="awHvWe">Inefficient in Possession</h2>
<p id="YXJtMY"><em><strong>Blues top possession again but create little</strong></em></p>
<p id="8EtES6">One of <span>Roberto Martinez</span>’s major downfalls was failing to use his possession-based style efficiently. So often teams would come to Goodison, and let Everton keep the ball knowing they would not know what to do with it.</p>
<p id="AIzLO5">There is a danger that the same is becoming true under Marco Silva. The Blues best performances this season have come when they press teams high up the pitch, not when they dwell on the ball.</p>
<p id="TtNNSr">Indeed, all of Everton’s defeats against teams outside of the top six have seen the Blues have more of the ball in each game. Against the Saints, Everton had a hefty 61% of possession, but had just seven shots to <a href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a>’s seven.</p>
<h2 id="1b2DXj">Calvert-Lewin the Answer for Now?</h2>
<p id="i7vnxY"><em><strong>Youngster wins most headers per 90 mins in the squad</strong></em></p>
<p id="EJ4RvH">There’s no doubt about it, Richarlison has been so much less effective as a centre-forward compared to out on the wing. He is potentially Everton’s best player but struggles to have an impact in the demanding central forward role.</p>
<p id="fKH1L9">So, who do you replace him with (in lieu of a new player): Cenk Tosun or Dominic Calvert-Lewin?</p>
<p id="WlUUu0">Well, from statistical standpoint, it’s hard to look past the youngster who was named England Under-21s player of the year this week. Per 90 minutes played, Calvert-Lewin matches Richarlison for goals scored, while also comfortably leads the way in terms of aerial duels won across the entire squad (11.7 per 90 minutes). His hard-working style also suits the profile of what Marco Silva likes to see in his forward players, although there’s no doubt he still needs to work on his touch and finishing with his feet.</p>
<h2 id="a83ZFT">Bizarre Own Goal Record at St Mary’s Continues</h2>
<p id="iEt61v"><em><strong>Fourth OG in last six games at Southampton</strong></em></p>
<p id="yIjzni">I’m not sure there’s much that can be read into this, but Everton have a habit of turning into their own net at St. Mary’s.</p>
<p id="SfPwVh">In the first half Gomes went close when his interception hit the post, but Digne kept the bizarre record going in the second half when his excellent tackle was unlucky to fly into the bottom corner.</p>
<p id="1PTYJ5">It means Everton have conceded four own goals in their last six trips to Southampton. To put that into context, of Everton’s last nine own goals in the Premier League (stretching back to the 2013/14 season), over 44% have come <em>at </em>St. Mary’s.</p>
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<p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Oh Digne <a href="https://t.co/pCbQxlxhAS">pic.twitter.com/pCbQxlxhAS</a></p>— WW (@JPickfxrd) <a href="https://twitter.com/JPickfxrd/status/1086713579993268225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2019</a>
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<h2 id="qCyMYp">Lookman the Right Choice</h2>
<p id="HLlAOI"><em><strong>Completed 85.7% of passes and three dribbles</strong></em></p>
<p id="AKQRrw">While he didn’t have his best game (no-one in Blue did), it’s still clear that Ademola Lookman offers significantly more on the right wing. He was again one of Everton’s most active attacking players, completing 85.7% of his passes, getting two shots off, completing three dribbles and earning two fouls, while making one success tackle and one interception – numbers that put Walcott’s to shame.</p>
<h2 id="VAbbUD">Gomes Struggles</h2>
<p id="2A8N6d"><em><strong>Midfielder completes just 72.5% of passes</strong></em></p>
<p id="ZTWp3V">After sending Blues hearts wooing in his first appearances for Everton, Andre Gomes has gone off the boil somewhat in recent weeks and his performance against Southampton was his worst to date.</p>
<p id="ST3Zda">Normally so composed on the ball, the Portuguese midfielder completed just 72.5% of his passes – often being caught out in dangerous positions – and was hauled off before the hour mark. </p>
<p id="UD9Eju">Having had confidence issues at Barcelona, let’s hope he is able to move past this performance and return to his best for Everton.</p>
https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/20/18190554/southampton-2-1-everton-recap-reaction-key-stats-possession-own-goals-lookman-gomes-striker-dclPete Reynolds2019-01-20T16:10:55+00:002019-01-20T16:10:55+00:00Everton tactical analysis: Silva has no answers when Gomes struggles
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<figcaption>Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Everton was utterly bereft of hope and ideas from the moment the midfielder misplaced his first pass.</p> <p id="BKLUdx">You want to know what went wrong for <a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> against <a href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a>? It’s really as easy as one simple graphic.</p>
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<p id="SkUmZU">Nearly every forward pass Andre Gomes attempted didn’t come off — and that doesn’t even include the number of times he was dispossessed on the dribble.</p>
<p id="4ASSMU">When Gomes first broke into the Everton lineup in October, he was a revelation. Everton still had its issues progressing the ball from back to front, but Gomes was able to at least minimize those issues, and give his side a chance to regularly get into the attack.</p>
<p id="Dm7acR">If you’ve been watching Everton for the past few weeks though, you know full well that Saturday’s match against Southampton was not the first in which Gomes struggled. He’s look utterly exhausted since the January 1 fixture against <a href="https://fosseposse.sbnation.com/">Leicester City</a> — since which he’s 197 of a possible 270 minutes in all competitions.</p>
<p id="0U4gEP">So while it was disappointing to see him struggle so mightily this weekend, you certainly could not claim that it was surprising. In three months, Gomes has played more football than he did all of last season at Barcelona, and you can see that the physical effects of that much action are taking a toll on him.</p>
<p id="3tv51l">Marco Silva noticed too...eventually. But by the time he brought Dominic Calvert-Lewin on for the Portuguese midfielder, the Toffees were already down 1-0 and clearly lacking any real confidence that a comeback could be mounted (another increasingly serious issue for another day).</p>
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<p id="eMkx0t">You can blame Gomes’ conditioning or Silva’s use of Gomes for his clear fatigue issue at this stage of the season — I don’t really care which narrative you find more appealing. But it’s clear that Silva should have already given the midfielder a break, rather than trotting him out to fail. </p>
<p id="70IsXV">The frustrating part of all this, for me, is that Silva does have alternatives — both in terms of personnel and tactics. But instead of pursuing those, Marco once again went with the comfortable and familiar, rather than addressing a developing issue before it cost Everton a match.</p>
<p id="PYkJhA">His refusal to do so has me genuinely concerned about his approach, as well as that of Marcel Brands. Allow me to explain.</p>
<p id="2pnVr9">At the start of the season, it looked as though Silva’s plan was to utilize <span>Morgan Schneiderlin</span> in the deep-lying, distributive midfield role alongside Idrissa Gueye. I know there isn’t a ton of love for Schneiderlin in a lot of corners of the internet, but it sure as hell <em>seemed</em> like Silva conceived to feature him prominently in his plans.</p>
<p id="q676m3">The Andre Gomes loan deal came as something of a last-minute development — a high-reward, low-risk move that served to potentially amplify the midfield if the player could shake off the demons he discovered at Barcelona.</p>
<p id="MOoDwE">Yet now, with Gomes struggling, Morgan Schneiderlin can’t even make the match-day 18 ahead of Tom Davies. Davies, as well as <span>James McCarthy</span>, is not cut out to play the role that Gomes does.</p>
<p id="tUOn3v">The only other internal option for this position is likely Beni Baningime — who impressed in very limited opportunities last season. He was injured at the start of this season, and then...fell off the face of the earth. It’s become something of a game in the RBM Slack channel to find pictures of Baningime in training, because he isn’t playing at either the youth or senior level, and no one seems to be talking about him.</p>
<p id="x5z7u1">If Silva doesn’t think either of those players can fill Gomes’ role in the midfield, that’s <em>fine.</em></p>
<p id="dzJ6A8">But then, what in the world is Everton doing in terms of its transfer policy? </p>
<p id="ChcolI">Did Marco Silva and Marcel Brands genuinely look at a perceived hole in the midfield over the summer and think, “Boy, we really don’t have anyone who can progress the ball. Let’s go out and get a midfielder from Barcelona on loan — a player who hasn’t played good football in two years or more, who barely played last season, and let’s make him the focal point of our midfield with absolutely no cover for him.”</p>
<p id="UYBiql">If Silva truly doesn’t rate Schneiderlin or Baningime, that’s basically the conversation that must have taken place.</p>
<p id="R93Pw5">My other frustration is more of an overtly tactical one — and a pretty simple one at that.</p>
<p id="rGNXJd">If a team is struggling to move the ball through the midfield, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that at some point, they’re probably going to have to resort to launching long balls forward.</p>
<p id="hZ81WL">No one wants to see Everton become a team that launches dozens of long balls forward every game, but it has to at least be part of the club’s arsenal if it decides that there’s only one ball-progressing midfielder in the squad.</p>
<p id="6tI7WF">And that did happen at times against Southampton — Michael Keane and Kurt Zouma were forced to just blast balls forward because it was simply the only option for getting the ball toward the attacking third.</p>
<p id="2sJfoY">So, you’d suspect that Everton would want to have a legitimate striker to whom those long balls could be directed. If only Everton had a six-foot-two, six-pack-having, <a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/18/18188405/dominic-calvert-lewin-england-under-21-player-of-the-year-2018-accolade-everton-striker">youth-award-winning</a> striker who could be that guy.</p>
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<cite>Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="ieFloR">Oh, right.</p>
<p id="Cq2ysv">Look, we knew going into the season that Everton remains something of a project — and that’s fine. Rome wasn’t built in a day.</p>
<p id="NCtmja">But such <em>basic </em>failings in terms of squad makeup, personnel selection, and tactics are deeply troubling, especially as we find ourselves past the halfway point of the Premier League season.</p>
<p id="yanQDw">Andre Gomes very clearly needs a break, but I’m just not sure that Marco Silva has any idea what he will do without the Portuguese midfielder — and I fear that his usage could get worse before it gets better.</p>
<p id="CnfA14">If that continues to be the case, don’t expect Everton to pick up more positive results any time soon.</p>
https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/20/18190442/everton-tactical-analysis-andre-gomes-marco-silva-idrissa-gueye-morgan-schneiderlin-beni-baningimeAdam.Braun2019-01-20T08:00:00+00:002019-01-20T08:00:00+00:00Everton 1-2 Southampton: Three Thoughts | No silver linings here
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<img alt="Southampton FC v Everton FC - Premier League" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OH1o-pvBL5Xpr6ENNe8juhegvOY=/132x0:3390x2172/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62875982/1084960494.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Three thoughts from Everton’s loss to Southampton</p> <h1 id="ImGJgV">A better first half performance</h1>
<p id="rYrMuD">It may not have been perfect, but <a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> looked better in the first half than they had in recent weeks. Despite being unable to capitalize on their possession advantage, the passing was better and the team actually looked dangerous at some points. </p>
<p id="3evsig">Regardless of the improvement, there still seems to be something off about this team. The players still look lethargic and it takes them a little to long to get into the match. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Lucas Digne didn’t really get into the match until around 30 minutes in. In road games Everton need to attack early and put the home team on the back foot. The Blues didn’t do that. And while they did eventually settle into the match, they were unable to make anything happen to put them in the lead.</p>
<h1 id="gFQau0">No goals despite possession advantage</h1>
<p id="0aIEh9">Everton held a pretty solid possession advantage throughout this entire match. Despite this they were only able to muster one shot on target until Sigurdsson’s stoppage time goal. Usually it is Everton in the position <a href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a> found themselves in, low on possession but high on scoring chances. In the end, Everton seemed unable to make use of the advantage they had been given.</p>
<p id="qaEOfB">To the eye Everton’s passing looked significantly better than it had the last two weeks. There were some beautiful moments in Southampton’s half. Flicks and through balls seemed to actually find their targets in this game. Despite what appeared to be an improvement in the passing department Everton did nothing to bother the Southampton keeper. Scoring chances almost developed, but until stoppage time, none of Everton’s offensive attempts were successful.</p>
<p id="OxumhC">This has become a huge problem for Everton. This team may not be the most talented, but there are some skilled players on the pitch. The fact that they cannot get solid chances on goal is an issue. The issue at striker will always be there, but more often then not they struggle to get chances into any player, let alone the striker. </p>
<h1 id="U7gRsX">Dreadful defensive performance</h1>
<p id="qnGWTV">This was easily one of Everton’s worst defensive performances of the season. They may not have had six goals scored on them like they did against Tottenham, but the two goals they allowed were glaring errors.</p>
<p id="XVTrUQ">Both of the goals that Southampton scored were the result of overly aggressive defensive play that left the remaining defenders in a bad situation. Southampton may not be the most skilled team, but they still have the ability to punish out of position defenders. Kurt Zouma’s over-zealous aerial challenge left the perfect amount of space for <span>James Ward-Prowse</span> to run at goal and blow a shot past <span>Jordan Pickford</span>. </p>
<p id="XGsnRv">There were even a number of times where <span>Nathan Redmond</span> was flying past the center backs and easily could have made this match a lot less close than it was. This may be a tactical issue, but Everton could do with being a little less aggressive with their defenders as they were caught out multiple times in this match. </p>
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https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/20/18189485/southampton-everton-2-1-reaction-recapmralbaugh2019-01-19T18:28:53+00:002019-01-19T18:28:53+00:00Everton at Southampton: Marco Silva’s reaction on inconsistency, transfers
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<img alt="Southampton FC v Everton FC - Premier League" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LyRuORDeR_XjtsC_Q-sws1qBOyk=/0x0:1884x1256/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62874486/1084953982.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Manager’s comments after another poor loss</p> <p id="KRJbIt"><a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> slipped to their ninth defeat of the season, surrendering tamely 2-1 to <a href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a> at St, Mary’s Stadium today. The Blues looked so poor in the first half especially they made the Saints look like a top ten contender instead of a side hovering at the relegation zone. </p>
<p id="ACJgnc">Speaking after the game to BBC’s Match of the Day, manager Marco Silva was unhappy with the effort put forth by his side -</p>
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<p id="gwbSfF">“Always when you don’t win a match and keep the good work it is disappointing. They deserved the three points, we had a big chance but they deserved it, you are playing against teams fighting really hard to leave the danger zone.</p>
<p id="HegseL">“I have already spoken to the players and given feedback. It is something for us to speak about more inside, they were more aggressive than us. We have to be in a good balance and be more aggressive, most of their chances came from when we lost the ball.</p>
<p id="HgEqRK">“Inconsistency is something we are working on, we are trying to find it (consistency), now points will be more and more difficult to get as the clubs are fighting really hard, and we have to do the same.”</p>
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<aside id="eVB1w2"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Everton 1-2 Southampton: Abject","url":"https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/19/18189473/everton-southampton-recap-results-goals-highlights-reaction-blues-are-utter-shit-mate"},{"title":"Everton at Southampton: Player Grades Poll","url":"https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/19/18189446/everton-1-2-southampton-player-grades-poll-man-of-the-match-manager-ratings"}]}'></div></aside><div id="SuW8hX">
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"> | "A bad performance. We didn't create enough."<br><br>Marco on the importance of making possession count: <a href="https://t.co/wou7aHcysL">https://t.co/wou7aHcysL</a> <a href="https://t.co/iIpgClnMpm">pic.twitter.com/iIpgClnMpm</a></p>— Everton (@Everton) <a href="https://twitter.com/Everton/status/1086688242366328832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2019</a>
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<p id="jJ005n">Earlier Silva had also commented on the perceived lack of activity on the transfer market. </p>
<blockquote><p id="lvygJ1">“Even to stop the speculation, I said that the feedback from our board is that we don’t have the conditions to go into the market.”</p></blockquote>
<p id="39oIwo">It looks like Silva’s solutions for this team’s woes are going to have to have to come from within, and soon. </p>
https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/19/18189547/southampton-everton-2-1-recap-reaction-marco-silva-comments-inconsistent-transfer-market-conditionsCalvin2019-01-19T17:14:20+00:002019-01-19T17:14:20+00:00Everton at Southampton: Live Blog | Blues lose 2-1 in pathetic effort
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<img alt="Southampton FC v Everton FC - Premier League" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yoM_ta-LCHKAA03kUht8VBN2DrM=/0x0:5171x3447/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62872825/1084960140.jpg.1547863130.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Blues travel to the coast for a matchup against the Saints</p> <h1 id="tj4rzW">Live Blog</h1>
<p id="Tn0k5V"><strong>Fulltime -</strong> Everton lose again, players start the game looking disinterested, the manager appears to be out of ideas.. what is happening to our football team?</p>
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<cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.premierleague.com/match/38535" target="_blank">Premier League</a></cite>
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<p id="YS2NA0">90+7’ - The ref added some time on there for injuries and substitutions to the 4’ originally advertised - the home fans are losing their minds but not to fear, Everton don’t have it in them to pull out an equalizer. </p>
<p id="RZiOQF">90+1’ - Everton pull one back, it’s Sigurdsson after Zouma wins an aerial ball from a melee in the box. Good finish, but it’s got to be too late right?</p>
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<p id="Jxn1lJ">87’ - Kurt Zouma down on the ground and Saints charge forward, Shane Long’s shot is brilliantly parried away by Pickford, yet again. <br>Zouma lands heavily on his right hip after getting upended in the air. He’s going off, and the Blues are a man short now. </p>
<p id="4RZCZK">85’ - This game is just tamely drifting away from the Blues, who have not really imposed themselves on this game at all. No excuse for this dire performance, especially since the Saints played midweek and went to extra time too. </p>
<p id="2zG6hI">82’ - By all rights this should be 3-0 now. Jack Stevens caps off a wonderful run through the middle of the pitch with a header from a corner that fizzes just wide, the Blues’ zonal marking at setpieces carved open again. </p>
<p id="A5Ta6B">75’ - Theo Walcott now on, back where he began his long Premier League career as a 16-year-old. Bernard has made way, and the Blues are in a 4-4-2 now. <br>With the Toffees pushing forward the Saints are still creating plenty of chances to bury this game, Everton not showing yet that they are worth a goal today. </p>
<p id="jaxcbX">67’ - Some raised tempers now. Redmond goes in hard on Idrissa Gueye on the ground, and the Senegalese midfielder is incensed, some pushing and shoving and both are booked now. </p>
<p id="ZcRC17">64’ - That should be the game. Nathan Redmond has been the best player on the pitch by far, runs through on goal and Lucas Digne’s despairing tackle actually takes the ball past Pickford right into the far corner. 2-0 now. </p>
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<p id="WpglUl">Richarlison is off, Cenk Tosun on now. </p>
<p id="Bg45IS">60’ - Everton give away a poor freekick right by their left corner flag, headed wide luckily. </p>
<p id="k2ZSJ4">56’ - Earlier than expected, but definitely needed. It’s Gomes coming off and Dominic Calvert-Lewin on, <a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/18/18188405/dominic-calvert-lewin-england-under-21-player-of-the-year-2018-accolade-everton-striker">the England Under-21 Player of the Year</a>!</p>
<p id="rvIIjC">51’ - Blues start better in the second half but it’s the hosts who score. James Ward-Prowse picks up the ball in the middle, runs at the Toffees and he places a spectacular shot past the despairing dive of Pickford right into the corner. 1-0 Saints. </p>
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<p id="NN8gvJ">46’ - Everton get the second half underway and apparently Gylfi Sigurdsson is here today. Immediately has more touches and chances than the entire first half it seems like. <br>A good header from close is parried out for a corner, and then another corner won and cleared. Much much better already. </p>
<p id="6jfTDS"><strong>Halftime -</strong> Everton lucky to be level here, it’s been the AFC Bournemouth game from last weekend all over again so far. </p>
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<cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.premierleague.com/match/38535" target="_blank">Premier League</a></cite>
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<p id="G1D6co">45’ - Just three minutes added on, strange considering the amount of time spent on injuries so far. </p>
<p id="RuNK5Y">41’ - Oh my Andre Gomes, lad needs a break like RIGHT NOW. First another poor pass kills a promising attacking move. <br>Then he makes a curious but crucial interception as Ings runs in on goal.. only for the ball to go straight at Jordan’s post, bounce back and Seamus Coleman hoofs it away with Pickford scrambling. Whew!</p>
<p id="qMMm4j">34’ - Saints come close again! Nathan Redmond runs onto a wonderful pass past Michael Keane, and his shot is beyond Pickford’s dive, brushes the far post on its way out. <br>Matt Targett leaves the game with an injury having fouled Lookman on that previous counter. Cedric Soares on now. </p>
<p id="PK6w62">29’ - Everton with a fast break led by Lookman and Richarlison loses the ball after running two-thirds the pitch with it. The Blues were 4-on-3 on that counter, and the Brazilian really needed to look up and find his teammates there. </p>
<p id="dpeeEm">26’ - Pickford again! A poor giveaway right in the middle from Andre Gomes ends up with Danny Ings getting a clear shot from the top of the box, and the goalie saves well. <br><a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/15/18183796/school-of-science-radio-episode-20-bournemouth-andre-gomes-idrissa-gueye-nikola-vlasic-and-soton">We talked about this in the podcast too</a>, but Gomes really needs a break. He looks exhausted and is making some critical mistakes. </p>
<p id="EGhJ6x">24’ - Questions need to be asked of Marco Silva why the Blues need the first twenty minutes of every game to wake up and show up!</p>
<p id="kU3k6J">20’ - Chance! A nice little interchange of passes between five players sees Bernard tee up Ademola Lookman for a shot just inside the box, blocked for a corner. <br>Once Everton wake up they are actually capable of playing very decent football. </p>
<p id="OtHeey">15’ - Pickford with a great save to keep the game even! Danny Ings got a good header on goal from a corner (of course), and the #1 parries it away with his left hand. </p>
<p id="7fqmcX">10’ - Southampton’s 3-5-1-1 is consistently controlling the midfield now, and the added width is getting around in Everton’s half. </p>
<p id="IeP2HH">5’ - Everton’s turn now to put pressure on the Saints, with two quick corners. </p>
<p id="qFCYLH">2’ - Saints gets us underway, and all the running is down the home side’s right in the early stages. </p>
<p id="b5JXW2"><strong>Lineups - </strong>Not entirely surprised to see Marco Silva naming an unchanged lineup - the players have had the week off and Ademola Lookman had his most complete performance last weekend. </p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"> | Team news is in at St. Mary's Stadium - and we are unchanged from last week's win... COYB!<br><br> v <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EFCawayday?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EFCawayday</a> <a href="https://t.co/W9TIBiToYe">pic.twitter.com/W9TIBiToYe</a></p>— Everton (@Everton) <a href="https://twitter.com/Everton/status/1086624331315269634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2019</a>
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<p id="H1gW4w"><a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> play <a href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a> for the third time this season, having beaten the Saints at Goodison Park in the Premier League before bowing out of the League Cup to the same opponents, losing on penalties. </p>
<p id="gyD3gS">The Blues endured a torrid December but bounced back last weekend to dispose of <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/afc-bournemouth">AFC Bournemouth</a>, and will look to keep that run going away from home where they have not been good - the Toffees away record is only 14th best in the entire league, but the Saints have been quite awful at home too so maybe there’s something there. </p>
<p id="HN1omy">Southampton under new manager Ralph Hasenhüttl were dumped out of the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/fa-cup">FA Cup</a> in their replay against Derby County, losing on penalties after giving up a two-goal lead. They fielded a strong side for that game, and the manager conceded that he would likely have to field a weakened side against the Blues today due to fatigue. </p>
<h1 id="VutDAl">Match Details</h1>
<p id="eTrN85"><strong>Date and start time:</strong> Saturday, January 18th at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m ET / 3:00 p.m. BST</p>
<p id="jLb1aE"><strong>Stadium:</strong> St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/england">England</a>, United Kingdom</p>
<p id="sd4UgU"><strong>Capacity:</strong> 32,505</p>
<p id="jWmOa0"><strong>Weather: </strong>45°F/7°C, light rain, 65% chance of precipitation, 14 kmph winds</p>
<h1 id="NylbZy">How to Watch/Listen</h1>
<p id="ZqDVb5"><strong>TV:</strong> N/A - <em>United States</em><em>; </em>N/A <em>- </em> <em>United Kingdom,</em> TSN 5 - <em>Canada</em></p>
<p id="mGBAfE"><strong>Radio: </strong>Everton Match Centre, TalkSport Radio World</p>
<p id="41ULCC"><strong>Live stream:</strong> <a href="http://nbcsports.com/gold">NBCSports.com</a>, <a href="https://fave.co/2OrDihv" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">fuboTV</a>, TSN GO, beIN Sports Connect, Flow Sports App, Optus Sport</p>
<p id="FsYgq9"><strong>Gamethread:</strong> Liveblog will be updated above from one hour before kickoff</p>
<p id="eB2O1I"><a href="http://www.livesoccertv.com/match/3018910/southampton-vs-everton/">Information from LiveSoccerTV.com</a></p>
<h1 id="k6zWnV">Lineups</h1>
<h3 id="Zz6RPN">Everton</h3>
<p id="fdZF0p"><strong>Starting XI: </strong>Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne, Gueye, Gomes, Bernard, Sigurdsson, Lookman, Richarlison</p>
<p id="68MO8R"><strong>Subs:</strong> Stekelenburg, Baines, Mina, Davies, Walcott, Calvert-Lewin, Tosun</p>
<h3 id="hYm7g5">Southampton</h3>
<p id="curC6F"><strong>Starting XI: </strong>McCarthy, Valery, Stephens, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Targett, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Redmond, Ings</p>
<p id="Tvt9dO"><strong>Subs:</strong> Gunn, Cedric, Ramsay, Armstrong, Slattery, Long, Gallagher</p>
<h1 id="Zmcrvq">Last Meeting</h1>
<p id="wx8JXM">The Blues beat the Saints 2-1 at Goodison Park with goals from former Saint Theo Walcott and Richarlison to grab all three points earlier this season. </p>
<p id="ABv2eG">Everton’s last trip to St. Mary’s was quite forgettable however. Under caretaker manager David Unsworth the Blues were spanked soundly last November 4-1, with the only positive to take away from that game being this worldie that Gylfi Sigurdsson put away. That aside, absolutely forgettable. </p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gylfi's screamer vs. Southampton last season. We wouldn’t mind if he did something like this next Saturday against another opposition from the south, although a bit further south. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fyrir%C3%ADsland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fyrirísland</a> <a href="https://t.co/ir0Ml5Ysip">pic.twitter.com/ir0Ml5Ysip</a></p>— Sons of Ice and Fire (@sons_icefire) <a href="https://twitter.com/sons_icefire/status/1006144334104858624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2018</a>
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https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/19/18189017/southampton-everton-2-1-recap-reaction-highlights-stats-ward-prowse-digne-own-goal-sigurdssonCalvin2019-01-19T17:05:22+00:002019-01-19T17:05:22+00:00Everton at Southampton: Player Grades Poll
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<img alt="Southampton FC v Everton FC - Premier League" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Eg3ziSxS6j8mNYaxBq7oaA8Oe0I=/0x0:3880x2587/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62874268/1084960468.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Grade the Everton players and manager on their performance today </p> <p id="RkJ5qL">Who was your <a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> Man of the Match in today’s game against <a href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a>? Vote to grade the players and manager on how they did.</p>
<p id="Qm0i1Q"><em>If this poll is not showing up on your screen, please </em><a href="https://goo.gl/forms/IYSeDcZDR4G9nBxS2"><em><strong>click here</strong></em></a><em> to go and grade the players - we apologize for the inconvenience.</em></p>
<div id="1lOdMB"><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScApINcoVq9gXQbCL-1iizkaEjoWXR9kyS5aIuIxsG5Ez5bQQ/viewform?embedded=true" width="100%" height="800" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading...</iframe></div>
https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/19/18189446/everton-1-2-southampton-player-grades-poll-man-of-the-match-manager-ratingsCalvin2019-01-19T16:57:49+00:002019-01-19T16:57:49+00:00Everton 1-2 Southampton: Abject
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<img alt="Southampton FC v Everton FC - Premier League" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zOs7_5w53LgYa3mk7LEHpfZaQ6E=/0x0:4422x2948/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62874254/1085033694.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>This is a terrible football team. </p> <p id="E6vtqN">By definition, <a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> are a football team. They are a collection of individuals paid to move a sphere around a bit of grass. </p>
<p id="R9LMD7">In practice, it’s a bit more complicated. </p>
<p id="nWpWkk">In practice, Everton are abysmal. Their effort comes and goes. The manager waffles between mild genius and utter confusion. Even the summer signings, so good for so long, have now decided that this endeavor isn’t worth their time. </p>
<p id="37TZHL">At times, it seems the only players who care are the youngest, least experienced, and lowest paid. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman, Tom Davies, and Jonjoe Kenny have the common decency to show a little heart out there, but the same cannot be said for a host of others. </p>
<p id="oYvldl">The attack is stagnant, the midfield easily by-passable. The defenders are often stranded on an island after the midfield gets beat like someone who owes Arthur Morgan’s gang money in <em>Red Dead Redemption 2</em>. </p>
<p id="aAdkIf">In the end, there seems to be no real desire to find the tonic that will cure the club’s lackadaisical approach to these performances. Marco Silva looks lost. Farhad Moshiri doesn’t want to spend this month. If they care so little, why should we care so much? </p>
<p id="JMBs8W">Everton are stuck in the worst kind of sports purgatory. They’re not fun and they’re not good, but they’re also not bad enough to cause sweeping changes. And so here we are as fans, left to bleed out slowly on the ground, with nobody around to put us out of our misery once and for all. </p>
https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/19/18189473/everton-southampton-recap-results-goals-highlights-reaction-blues-are-utter-shit-mateevertonchris2019-01-18T18:30:00+00:002019-01-18T18:30:00+00:00Everton at Southampton: Writer Prediction League
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<img alt="Everton v Southampton - Premier League" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N2ekVcd1zGSpO7G6BKafwJ9G1ig=/0x0:3652x2435/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62868605/1018775316.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Can the Toffees outdo the resurgent Saints?</p> <p id="tol6Id"><a href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> might be facing the Premier League’s two south-coast clubs in consecutive weeks, but the current states of those clubs couldn’t be more opposite.</p>
<p id="gDGlVh">Last week, Everton labored to a 2-0 victory over a stumbling Bournemouth side. Eddie Howe’s team sat as high as sixth in the table in December, but with just one win and one draw in their nine matches in all competitions since then, they’ve slid to 12th in the table and find themselves out of both domestic cup competitions.</p>
<p id="PRCAKx"><a href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a>, which following an <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/fa-cup">FA Cup</a> third-round replay defeat against Derby this week, also finds itself out of both domestic cup competitions. But, the Saints have been in fine league form since December began, picking up wins against <a href="https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/">Arsenal</a>, Huddersfield Town, and <a href="https://fosseposse.sbnation.com/">Leicester City</a> in recent weeks, not to mention a draw away to <a href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea</a>.</p>
<p id="pQeYtF">That form has only seen Southampton one point out of the relegation zone, but that should not obscure the fact that they’ve overall been in better form than the Toffees since mid-December.</p>
<p id="TFIlsI">Before we look ahead to that match, let’s review the Bournemouth victory one last time. Our writers’ predictions are below, with correct guesses in bold.</p>
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<p id="ORyp70">The majority of us did have an Everton win over the Cherries, so there are plenty of two-point weeks on the board. No one had Kurt Zouma opening the scoring (predictably), but we did have an interesting development in our man-of-the-match voting.</p>
<p id="nrKfLe">For the first time since we started doing MOTM voting, we had a tie! Both Zouma and Lucas Digne received ratings of exactly 7.633 — Zach had Digne as his man of the match for this one, and we’ll give him full credit even though there was a tie.</p>
<p id="OTpQtO">Tom and I both benefited from Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s late goal that pushed the score to 2-0 — a goal that helped to tighten things up atop our Prediction League table.</p>
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<p id="98YRGj">With this week’s results, I’ve closed the gap on Calvin to just four points, while Matt A. continues to <em>just</em> hang around the title conversation with a 10-point deficit.</p>
<p id="Bpmyru">Zach’s MOTM point for Digne saw him jump out of sole possession of last place, with Sean and Rachel both also sitting on 29 points.</p>
<p id="LZPBFp">With that out of the way, let’s take a look at this week’s predictions for Everton’s trip to Southampton.</p>
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<p id="4o5RIK">More than a few of our writers are wary of Everton’s chances this week, given Southampton’s decent form and the Toffees’ well-documented woes away from Goodison. I suspect that if the Southampton injury report didn’t still indicate question marks for Mario Lemina, <span>Danny Ings</span>, and Ryan Bertrand, we’d even see a few more draw or Southampton victory predictions.</p>
<p id="8PZ9j8">That said, most of our writers have Everton opening the scoring, with Richarlison the easy favorite. He grabbed a few man-of-the-match votes as well, though that column is dominated by Ademola Lookman, who is coming off his most complete performance of the season. </p>
https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/2019/1/18/18188246/everton-southampton-prediction-preview-analysis-premier-league-danny-ings-mario-lemina-injuriesAdam.Braun