Paul Merson predicts result of Frank Lampard’s biggest ever Everton game vs Southampton
Paul Merson would be “shocked” if Everton don’t beat Southampton in what he believes is arguably Frank Lampard’s biggest game for the club.
Nathan Jones’ Saints arrive at Goodison Park on Saturday (14 January) off the back of upsetting Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night (11 January) for a massive clash in the relegation battle.
Lampard is under major pressure, despite apparent backing from Farhad Moshiri, with the club in the relegation zone and without a win in eight games in all competitions, but Merson has tipped the Toffees to win 2-0 and thinks it is Jones who is at risk of the sack.
In his predictions for Sportskeeda Merson said: “This is a huge game. If Southampton lose this match, I’m not sure the manager will see this out. If you look at the games he’s lost, they’re not against the big boys. He’ll have lost seven games on the trot in the Premier League if he loses this match.
“There’s as much pressure on Frank Lampard this weekend because Everton are playing at home. We have Graham Potter under pressure as well – he’s had to play Man City twice without his full squad, and now has a local derby against a good Fulham side. He’ll be crying out for a match against Southampton at home, and Lampard’s got that.
“Everton couldn’t do anything with great managers like [Carlo] Ancelotti – they keep changing their manager! This is arguably Lampard’s biggest game in charge of Everton, and I’d be shocked if they didn’t win.”
Hope
Merson is surprisingly positive about Lampard’s prospects in this game, and feels that the visit of Southampton would be just want the manager was looking for, but there is tremendous pressure on the game in the circumstances.
Both sides have got positive results against Pep Guardiola’s illustrious side in recent weeks, but neither makes a huge difference to the relegation battle.
Lampard’s point at the Etihad on 31 December was encouraging but pretty firmly negated by the subsequent capitulation at home on Brighton (3 January), while a win over City is always nice but a place in the Carabao Cup semi final won’t make a difference to the league table for Southampton.
A lot of Toffees supporters would like to share Merson’s optimism, but despite the apparent blind faith that Moshiri has displayed in his open letter on Wednesday (11 January) there are clearly major issues.
Another positive performance in Manchester in the FA Cup last Friday (6 January) resulted in a familiar result despite the bad luck involved.
But winning home games against fellow strugglers is the absolute least that this side needs to do to avoid relegation, and the Southampton game is undoubtedly very important, but the last time the league’s bottom side arrived at Goodison they stole a last-gasp three points on Boxing Day.
A repeat of that at this point would look disastrous for the Toffees’ prospects even with a long way to go until the end of the season.