Everton vs Southampton

Goodison Park is the venue as Everton and Southampton lock horns in a Premier League relegation six-pointer.

Everton may not yet be in a must-win situation despite entering this round inside the drop zone, but under-pressure boss Frank Lampard is. Lampard’s men capped off 2022 on a high, holding defending champions Manchester City to a 1-1 draw, but their celebrations were short-lived. The ‘Toffees’ started the new calendar year with a whimper rather than a bang, losing 4-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion on home turf, accounting for their third consecutive Premier League defeat at Goodison. Another slip-up would see Everton lose four top-flight home matches in a row for the first time since 1958, which would likely put the final nail in Lampard’s coffin. There’s a glimmer of hope as they’ve gone unbeaten in their last 17 Premier League H2Hs against Southampton at home (W12, D5).

As for Southampton, a run of six successive Premier League defeats may have nailed them to the bottom of the table, but they’ve undergone a mini-renaissance of late. After dispatching Crystal Palace 2-1 in last weekend’s FA Cup tie, they defied the odds to crash Manchester City out of League Cup in midweek (2-0). Despite staring down the barrel of a seven-match losing Premier League streak for the first time in the club’s history, Southampton’s hopes of securing survival are still alive. Nathan Jones’ men sit only three points adrift of safety, although a woeful run of seven losses from nine away league matches this term (W2) cannot inspire much confidence. Indeed, they’ve suffered defeat on their last three Premier League travels.