Paul Merson predicts Everton showdown v Nottingham Forest in Premier League
Paul Merson has backed Everton to pick up their first win of the Premier League season as they welcome Nottingham Forest to Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Sky Sports pundit has predicted that it will finish 2-1 to the home side, handing Frank Lampard his first three points of the season, just what he needed.
Merson admitted that alarm bells will start ringing around the club should they fail to pick up the win against the newly promoted and stay on zero points.
Writing in his latest predictions column for Sportskeeda, Merson laid it all on the line with what is really at stake at Goodison Park this weekend.
“Everton lost to Aston Villa last weekend but they did much better when the shackles were off,” he wrote.
“Nottingham Forest, on the other hand, got a massive result against West Ham, but once again, you could say the result papered over the cracks as they got really lucky.
“Everton have to win this game as they haven’t got any points thus far – the alarm bells could start ringing as early as late August if they start the season with no points from their first three games.
“I expect another hard season for Everton, but something tells me they’ll get all three points this weekend.”
Must Win.
Everton must simply pick up all three points here.
Not in the way that Lampard may see his position under threat, but to get some points on the board and really starting building confidence throughout the squad.
Of course, having no striker outside of Salomon Rondon doesn’t help, but with the new signings through the door, we should have more than enough.
Amadou Onana should make his first start for the club after shining off the bench at Aston Villa, and if he can keep those driving runs forward going, we should look more potent in the final third.
Alarm bells are never too far away from the Goodison Park boardroom at the moment, so they could go off at any moment, but with more transfer business to do, including that new striker, patience is required.
Let’s hope for three points here to really kickstart the season, bring it on.