Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The pressure continues to be heaped on Everton and Roberto Martinez in particular as the Merseysiders still find themselves languishing in the bottom half of the table. You get the feeling it’s almost F.A. Cup or bust for the Ex Wigan Manager after such a season of underachievement.
Today they play host to a Southampton side who are still in the hunt for a Europa League place and the challenge for Roberto Martinez doesn’t get any easier with the possibility that both Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley could be out injured
With Everton two games away from winning the F.A. Cup and with that an entry into the Europa League it would be fair to say that the games between now and the end of the season in the league are going to be a bit of an after thought. That said I don’t think the Goodison faithful are going to allow an under par performance this Afternoon.
It’s now 5 league games without a win for Roberto Martinez’s side and last time out they were held to a bore draw at Selhurst Park in Midweek. That draw saw them move up to 12th but the best they can hope for in terms of the league campaign is a top half finish.
Their opponents Southampton won’t be prepared to settle for that as they look to try and get into 6th place. They would have to rely on Manchester United winning the Cup if that doesn’t end up being the case so Ronald Koeman obviously wants to take matters into hands and try and get Southampton as high up the table as possible.
Last time out they dealt a massive blow to Newcastle hopes of survival with a relatively comfortable win at St Mary’s. That puts them only 2 points behind West Ham in 6th but the teams above in 4th to 6th and Liverpool below them in 8th all have games in hand so Southampton are going to have their work cut out if they are to crack the Top 6.
A cup win for Everton would do Southampton no favours at all in terms of their Europa League prospects but Everton need to look out for themselves if they are to end this season with any modicum of respectability and ultimately save Roberto Martinez from the chop.
Everton have struggled at home this season in front of their own fans with them gaining less points here than on the road and to be honest there’s no indication that the situation will improve this Afternoon. I’m going to go for a Southampton win.
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