‘Season altering’ – Michael Owen predicts result of Everton clash v Southampton
Michael Owen says Everton travelling to Southampton this weekend is a ‘hard one to call’ while making his predictions for BetVictor.
The Toffees travel down south to take on an in-form Southampton side as they look to break away from the pack to avoid relegation under Frank Lampard.
After a great performance against Leeds last week, Everton are keen to build momentum but with the Saints making their own push for a potential European place at the end of the season, Owen is backing a draw on the day.
“It’s early to say, but that felt like a season altering win for Everton,” he said.
“They badly needed a win, and they completely deserved to beat Leeds. They could have scored more than the three they got, and Donny van de Beek really caught the eye.
“This is a hard one to call. Southampton’s recent form is superb, but Everton look improved under Lampard. I can see a draw here, 1-1.”
Close fought
This is a game where Lampard’s Everton can really see how far they’ve come under him in the last few weeks.
Their performances under Rafa Benitez and even Duncan Ferguson prior to Lampard’s arrival were missing any sort of quality in important areas, while the fans simply weren’t believing in positive results.
Lampard has got them believing again though with some top performances against Brentford and Leeds since his appointment, but the game at Newcastle will serve as a warning of what he needs to fix.
If they turn in another poor performance away from home at St Mary’s then there will be concerns about the level of performance from the club.
If they’re relying too heavily on the Goodison crowd to get them through games then they’ll fall flat eventually and that spells trouble ahead of a big race to avoid relegation.
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