BBC pundit makes prediction about Allardyce’s first Everton game against Huddersfield Town

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Everton take on Huddersfield Town in the Premier League this weekend.

Pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Sam Allardyce will start his Everton reign with a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town.

Allardyce, 63, was confirmed as the new Everton manager on Thursday, penning a deal until the summer of 2019 as the Toffees finally landed a replacement for Ronald Koeman.

Allardyce was in the stands on Wednesday night to see Everton beat West Ham United 4-0, with Wayne Rooney bagging a hat-trick in a morale-boosting victory.

The Toffees still have plenty of work to do to get themselves away from trouble, and Allardyce kicks off his reign with a home clash against Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon.

The Terriers were hammered 5-0 away at Arsenal in midweek, just days after narrowly losing 2-1 at home to Manchester City, and having also lost 4-0 at Bournemouth, manager David Wagner will be hoping to avoid a fourth straight defeat.

Huddersfield still sit five points clear of the relegation zone after 14 games, but Wagner won’t want to round off this busy run of fixtures with another loss.

Ahead of Saturday’s game, pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he is expecting Allardyce to make a strong start as Everton boss, backing him to be a success at Goodison Park.

Lawrenson is backing Allardyce to claim a 2-0 win in his first game, suggesting that Huddersfield will be tough to break down, but Everton and ‘Big Sam’ will find a way to win.

“I am expecting Sam Allardyce to make a good start as Everton manager,” said Lawrenson. “Toffees caretaker manager David Unsworth finished off with a really good win over West Ham on Wednesday, with Wayne Rooney taking the headlines with his hat-trick. And you just know Sam will do absolutely fine there. His way of looking at it will be ‘right, we start from the back’ and he will make sure he improves his defence first.”

”Huddersfield were beaten heavily by Arsenal on Wednesday but the good thing about them is they will not dwell on that. In a very Allardyce kind of way, Terriers manager David Wagner will identify the fixtures where they have to pick up points. I am talking about games like this one, not against Manchester City or the Gunners. Huddersfield will be tough to break down, but I think Allardyce will find a way,” he added.