View: Three things to watch for in Everton clash v Southampton
Following a possible season best performance against Liverpool last weekend, Everton will be tasked with facing an out of form Southampton side on Monday.
The Blues host Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side at Goodison Park where Carlo Ancelotti will hope his team can string consecutive Premier League wins together for the first time since December.
The Saints meanwhile are winless in eight games in the league, with a number of major injuries plaguing the South Coast club’s squad.
Ahead of the clash on Monday, we at Goodison News have picked out three things that fans should watch out for.
Calvert-Lewin return
Richarlison has experienced mixed fortunes in Everton’s last few games, deputising in a central forward role in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However with the former Sheffield United man back and ready to start against the Saints, we could expect Richarlison to line up on his favoured left-side.
Calvert-Lewin has scored 13 times in the Premier League this season, and his return to Everton’s starting squad will hopefully see him get back to his goalscoring best.
Further goalkeeper rotation
Despite Jordan Pickford having put in one of his best performances against Liverpool, Ancelotti has indicated that he won’t stop rotating his two shot-stoppers.
Robin Olsen is likely to feature against the Saints, proving that Carlo has yet to really decide who his long-term first-choice ‘keeper is.
Hopefully he’ll decide soon, because we’re not sure that constantly rotating goalkeepers is the best way to go.
Midfield decisions to be made
Allan’s return to full fitness could see Tom Davies make way for the Brazilian against Southampton, but that might not be the only midfield move that we see.
Abdoulaye Doucoure will probably keep his place, but with Calvert-Lewin back Ancelotti will likely have to leave one of Andre Gomes, Gylfi Sigurdsson or James Rodriguez out of his side.
Should Alex Iwobi play, Carlo might need to pick just one of the aforementioned trio to play. The Italian has plenty of options, and it’ll be interesting to see who he choose to feature.
In other Everton news, Ralph Hasenhuttl has handed Everton a boost by announcing that both Oriol Romeu and Takumi Minamino won’t feature against the Blues.