Alan Shearer shares Everton concern in Bournemouth prediction

Alan Shearer believes Everton will "struggle" in their Premier League game against Bournemouth on Saturday.

The Toffees are currently 16th in the table and only have a two-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three places.

Andoni Iraola's men, meanwhile, are sitting pretty in seventh and are just five points adrift of the coveted Champions League spots.

Reporting via his weekly Premier League predictions column for The Metro (3 January), Shearer shared why he's concerned for the Merseyside outfit's chances against the Cherries.

"This will be a tough one for Everton – Bournemouth are in a really good position and have had a wonderful season so far. Everyone can be really pleased with their first half of the campaign; so I’m going to go for a home win," he wrote.

"I think Everton will struggle down on the south coast. Bournemouth will always make it very difficult for you, so I fancy them to nick that one. Prediction: Bournemouth win."

Everton need to prove Alan Shearer wrong

While this season has likely been one that Toffees fans will want to forget sharp-ish, it feels like they could still avoid being dragged into the relegation battle by the end of the season.

Of course, at the moment, things aren't going quite to plan with the Merseyside outfit just two points away from the drop zone but it feels like things could be turned around.

Sean Dyche has plenty of talent among his ranks and if one of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Armando Broja or Beto can just start bagging a goal at least in every other game, things would no doubt be going a lot better.

While Everton's defence has been on top form this term, their strike force has been rather lacklustre with Dwight McNeil and Iliman Ndiaye being the only exceptions.

If the Toffees want to go into their first season at the Bramley Moore-Dock Stadium as a Premier League team, things are going to have to be turned around soon and results against teams such as the Cherries will have to occur more than once.

In other Everton news, the future of Nathan Patterson has been decided upon.

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