Southampton vs. Everton: Team news and preview

Mauricio Pochettino's introduction to the Premier League will come against Everton at St. Mary's. Having fired Nigel Atkins following a 2-2 draw at third-place Chelsea in midweek, Southampton face another tough task in dealing with David Moyes' flying Toffees on Monday.

Everton, in fifth place going into the match, could see themselves draw to within a point of the Champions League spots with a win here. That's what happened when the two sides met at Goodison Park, with Leon Osman and Nikica Jelavic overpowering the Saints despite an early goal from Jay Rodriguez in late September.

Despite Southampton's promising recent run, we should probably expect a similar result here. It's difficult to imagine the hosts coping with the aerial presence of giant Belgian Marouane Fellaini, and Leighton Baines in particular has had a superb start to the new year.

Pochettino will take some hope of earning a point from Everton's recent record, which features nine draws in their past 16 matches, but the Toffees haven't been beaten away since a 2-1 reverse at the Madejski Stadium on November 17th and seem rather unlikely to cough up a win for the still-relegation-threatened Saints.

Out: Tony Hibbert (calf), Darron Gibson (thigh). In doubt: Kevin Mirallas (hamstring), John Heitenga (ugly).