Southampton made the country-long trip to Newcastle for their opening game last Sunday, but the Tyneside club sent them home with 2 less points than they had hoped for.

However, a point is a point, and Southampton can be fairly happy with their performance in the 2-2 draw at St James’ Park, with both Pelle and Long getting their season off to a scoring start.

Ronald Koeman will have to be wary of his squad selection in the coming weeks though, as they have Europa League qualifiers coming up as well as a League Cup match.

This dilemna is worsened by the fact that they have a bit of an injury crisis on their hands. Fraser Forster, Gaston Ramirez, Jordan Clasie, Ryan Bertrand, and Florin Gardos are all expected to be on the sidelines when Everton visit.

Everton aren’t without their problems though, as Steven Pienaar, Darron Gibson, Aiden McGeady, and Tony Hibbert all ruled out for the trip.

Like their opponents, Everton also played out a 2-2 draw in their opening game of the season, with a stunning Ross Barkley goal taking the headlines in the match against Watford.

Despite the losses of Schneiderlin and Clyne, Southampton’s squad is looking strong in general. They have made a couple of signings to replace their influential defensive midfielder, with Oriol Romeu being the most recent.

Clyne will undoubtedly be replaced by another one of the talented line of Southampton full backs as the season progresses.

Their home record last season was exceptional for a side that was tipped as relegation candidates. They only lost 4 home matches all season, and won 11 of their 19 games.

Everton, on the other hand, only managed to record 5 wins in their 19 away days and lost over half of their matches on the road.

Considering Southampton’s home record, as well as the fact that they have won their last 2 home games against Everton, I think that odds of 19/20 for a home win are very good value.