Everton vs. Southampton 8/14/21 Premier League Soccer Pick, Odds, and Predictions

Everton and Southampton face off on Saturday in their first English Premier League game of the season at Goodison Park. These two teams last faced off in March and it was Everton that won 1-0. 

The hope is it’s a new dawn of Everton with Rafael Benítez now in charge of the team. This is a team that has dreams of a top-four finish, and if they want that to become a reality, this is the type of game that they need to pick up three points in. Everton took home the Florida Cup, but they have to have a really bad taste in their mouth coming into this game. In the last game against Manchester United, Everton’s defense really struggled giving up four goals and that led to the blowout loss. Everton finished last season struggling to win games, and in this game, they are going to need the offense to be better. If Everton’s offense struggles in this game, they are going to have issues getting the job done. 

On the other side of this matchup is Southampton who can’t feel good heading into this season, and the fans aren’t happy either. Most believed that Danny Ings would get a new deal done with Southampton, but it wasn’t reached, and now he has moved onto Aston Villa. Southampton got out to a fast start to last season, but they struggled as the season went on, and they need to have a more complete year this year. Southampton did bring in Adam Armstrong and Armando Borja and the hope is they can fill the void. Southampton had won three games in a row, before losing their last game against the Athletic Club. In that game, the defense really let them down, giving up three goals. 

I expect both teams are going to struggle to put shots on net, and that is going to lead to a very low-scoring game. Look for this game to stay under 2.5. I am also throwing a few dollars on the exact score of 0-0.