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Barclays Premier League Preview: Southampton v Everton

Ronald Koeman will return to the dugout this weekend after missing last week's match at Newcastle after having ankle surgery. 

He will be hoping that his Saints side can cut out the errors as they welcome Everton to St Mary's this weekend.

Southampton needed a Shane Long header 11 minutes from time to rescue a point against Steve McClaren's men at St James' Park last Sunday and the Southampton boss saw plenty of areas for Improvement.

'I wasn't impressed because I was not happy about the first half. Already in the Vitesse match we had too many mistakes the same in the first half at Newcastle."

"All the dangers of Newcastle came from faults. The second half the reaction of the players and the physical state in the last 15 minutes was very good because we had the best chances to win the game"

"Starting the season with a draw away against Newcastle isn't a bad result bur normally, if we play our level we win the game. "

Southampton strolled to  a 3-0 win against Roberto Martinez's side at St Mary's last season but were beaten 1-0 at Goodison Park in  April.

"We know the qualities of Everton, " he said. "We know how they like to play, it will be an attractive, open game because they like to play offensive football."

"Maybe they did not have the best result to start the season, but they are strong with good individual qualities in the team and it's a difficult one. We must embrace that challenge."

Everton have a poor record at Southampton winning just 1 of their last 14 visits and Roberto Martinez is determined to collect a rare 3 points on the South Coast.

"The last 2 visits to Southampton, they've been really tough games for different reasons and i don't think they have just been football aspects" said the Everton manager. "You feel that that things could go wrong , go wrong. Two years ago we had two own goals very early and then you look back into our history and in 22 years we have had just 2 wins.

"Historically it's a very tough place for us and it becomes an extra challenge. We want to embrace that. We need to be conscious of the difficulty to the trip and make sure we change the stats that are so much against us"

Team News

Southampton could hand a debut to Oriol Romeu following his move from Chelsea on a season long loan. However, other recent incomings Jordy Clasie(ankle) and Steven Caulker(infection) will miss out. Ryan Bertrand, Fraser Forster and Florin Gardos will also miss out as they all have knee injuries.

Everton could welcome back summer signing Gerard Deulofeu, Muhamed Besic and Aiden McGeady, while Kevin Mirallas could play a part after suffering a knock against Watford. Leighton Baines is out after picking up an ankle injury which requires surgery and has ruled him out for a minimum of three months.

Match Facts

Southampton have not lost any of their last 6 home games against the Merseyside team. Winning 3 and Drawing 3. While Everton have failed to score in their last 3 visits to the South Coast.

Three of the last six goals in this fixture have been own goals.

Southampton striker Pelle has scored 5 goals in his last 8 Premier League games while Everton have kept just one clean sheet in their last 17 away Premier League games.

Infographic 



Referee

Michael Oliver



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