Saints fans will be glad to hear that Everton may have one or two missing as they look to extend their unbeaten run at St Mary's on Sunday, but will this spur them on.

Richarlison's late sending off against Liverpool last weekend will see the striker missing the game through suspension and he should have been joined by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, but Saints supporters will take the Brazilian sitting this one out.

He has long been a thorn in Saints side, he scored the 75th winner in the Toffee's win down here last season, as well as the equaliser a minute before half time in the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park in July after the restart.

In 2018/19 season he scored what turned out to be the winner in August of that year at Goodison, Theo Walcott gave the home side and early lead and Richarlison metted on the half hour mark to make it two, a Danny Ings goal for Saints completing the scoring.

He wasn't on the scoresheet however a few months later when the same scoreline for the home side this time went the way of Saints at St Mary's.

His time at Watford though saw him fail to score in either of his two appearances.

Also seemingly out though is James Rodriguez.

The former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich man picked up an injury last weekend's Merseyside derby after being clattered from behind by Ex Saint Virgil Van Dijk.

Calvin Lewin has been taking the plaudits, but his sudden burst of scoring is mainly down to Rodriguez, the Columbian has scored three times himself and has also been a provider with another three assists.

He played the full 90 minutes against Liverpool after picking up the injury and this seems to have been a mistake from the Everton manager as Rodriguez has been unable to train since.

Saints fans won't mind though if he fails to make it, Everton are after all top of the league and we will take all the help we can get.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 09:26 - Oct 23 Amongst all of the "Big Teams " Saints have had the least success when playing Everton. Both home and away, we have attained less points against them than almost any other Prem. side. It's not that they produce better sides, but in many cases our loss of points is often down to our own shortcomings rather than their " superior footballing talent" .. (and we can throw in a share of incompetent refereeing). This game will be a good gauge of our current side , as Everton have had a good start, but like other clubs, Everton may find that they are "over-dependent " on a few of their star players so I'm hoping for a good Saints performance and some good Saints 'goals.

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A1079 added 11:34 - Oct 23 With Everton's injuries you might expect us to have a better than average chance of beating them, but then I look over recent seasons and sides that have come to St Marys with a supposed lengthy injury list and the expectation that we should win only to then completely fail to take advantage. Carlo Ancelotti knows what he is doing and is a good tactician as well as man manager. We have a good manager but sometimes does not always get the tactics right. Everton have received some poor PR this week (not deserved and overdone by a Liverpool biased media) but that could be a motivating factor. Cannot really call this one, but for me between a draw and a tight Everton win.

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halftimeorange added 15:51 - Oct 23 Saints are rather like the October weather, rather changeable. This game, against well-managed and talented opposition, is a good barometer as to whether there are sunny times ahead. We are playing quite well but, our defensive frailties are well-documented so, we can be optimistic but, unsurprised if we get turned over.
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