EPL Preview: Southampton’s X-Factor; Aston Villa’s biggest worry; Everton’s key to victory

Everton’s biggest key to victory vs. Fulham

There’s usually not a whole lot of nice things to say about a team stuck 16th in the Premier League table, but Everton are more than three points above the drop zone and have one of my favorite wide men in the league in Dwight McNeil, who has a knack for scoring bangers.

Everton aren’t the favorites against Fulham this weekend, but you have to admit they have more than a fighting chance. Sean Dyche has had a tough task getting anything out of his team attacking-wise, and it feels like a few of their most talented players, such as former Serie A starters Beto and Jesper Lindstrom, haven’t quite figured this whole “scoring in the Premier League” thing out.

What Everton need to do in order to win this game is elementary. They need to get the ball into the feet of their best player, get him as close to shooting positions in the right channel or centrally around the edge of the box, and let him create or score to win this game.

McNeil is Everton’s meal ticket this season. It’s like with Richarlison a few years ago or any team fighting relegation that has a possibly game-changing attacker. Protect and trust that guy at all costs.

I think McNeil is one of the best Premier League wingers of the last several years, and he’s had a team-high three goals and three assists for Everton with more than three key passes per game, which are outrageous numbers when you consider the overall attacking plight of the Toffees.

Everton have a couple of other worthwhile attacking options, too, so McNeil isn’t alone. Iliman Ndiyae, in particular, has looked lively on the ball, and he can take pressure off McNeil on the left wing, allowing the English attacker to stay central and get space to shoot.

The big worry for Aston Villa against Bournemouth

Bournemouth just took down Arsenal 2-0 in the Premier League, and regardless of what you think about the William Saliba red card – which honestly just seems like more crying and a shocking lack of team accountability from a supposed Premier League title contender – the Cherries have to be praised for their opportunism and the Gunners criticized for lacking enough dog in the fight.

Arsenal’s slips are music to Aston Villa’s ears, and after beating Fulham 3-1 at the weekend after overcoming a fifth-minute deficit and then conquering Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League at mid-week, the fourth-placed Lions are heading into Matchday 9 on another high.

Aston Villa are legitimate contenders in the Premier League when taking stock of their summer improvements, as well as the overall balance in their squad with the breakouts of Jhon Duran, Morgan Rogers, and, especially, Youri Tielemans filling three key areas of need.

But as happy as Aston Villa should be about their success, Bournemouth have proven repeatedly to be tricky customers that even the best of Premier League sides must be wary of.

For Villa, the big fear on Saturday should be losing concentration in two pivotal, momentum-swinging games within the game. The first is set pieces, which initially undid Arsenal, as a beautiful routine from the training ground completely upended the supposedly wizardly Mikel Arteta and his set piece defense.

Aston Villa can’t fall victim to that. Unai Emery is so good at drilling his side in discipline and concentration, but we did see an early lapse from Pau Torres last weekend against Fulham.

Bournemouth can be even more punishing and then clamp down defensively once they get their lead, which is exactly what they did to Arsenal.

And then the second of those momentum-swinging situations is transitions. Aston Villa are good in those situations, too, attacking wide quickly before finding the striker with a well-timed cross or through ball.

Bournemouth love to do the same, and they have a player who was once one of Ligue 1’s finest breakout stars, Dango Ouattara. On the other side, Antoine Semenyo has been even better with three goals this season as the Cherries’ main threat.

And if I were Aston Villa, I wouldn’t sleep on Marcus Tavernier through the middle or Lucas Sinisterra coming off the bench either. All four of these guys can devastate a defense in transition, and Aston Villa have occasionally switched off at the wrong time.

I guess it’s a pretty good thing, then, that Aston Villa’s biggest worry against a solid mid-table side is beating themselves with mental errors, because that tacitly tells you that they are quite strong from a tactical and pure talent perspective.

Southampton’s X-Factor to upsetting Man City

Manchester City were nearly undone by Wolves last weekend, so Southampton may be smelling an opportunity to make some serious noise in the Premier League, with perhaps some added motivation after an agonizing late defeat to fellow returnees Leicester City in their last matchup.

Southampton, like Wolves, are at the bottom of the Premier League table with a single point, owning a goal difference below -10. The Saints have no attacking firepower to speak of, as Cameron Archer is their only player with multiple goals and a 36-year-old Adam Lallana their only man with two assists.

The Saints are clear underdogs on Saturday against the defending champions, but as much as things have gone wrong for Russell Martin’s side this season, their status as underdogs might actually help them against Man City.

What they need to do is play compact, stay organized defensively, and do their best to make things ugly and chippy for Man City in the midfield. They aren’t going to win this game by letting City dictate play too much and sit back, but there is going to need to be some element of playing on the counter like successful past Man City opponents (Brentford, for example).

Southampton got a strong performance last weekend from Joe Aribo in midfield, and they have a potential young gem in the attacking midfield in 20-year-old Portuguese player Mateus Fernandes.

With 2.6 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn so far this season, Fernandes could be the best at leading transitions through the middle for Southampton alongside Aribo.

Favoring a narrow setup, Fernandes can be the key playmaker for the Saints, and all he needs is one good opening to cut through and slice the right pass to Cameron Archer. A couple of plays like that could be all Southampton needs to pull off the shock of the Premier League season thus far.