Everton host Watford in the Premier League this afternoon.
Pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Everton will beat Watford 2-0 at Goodison Park this afternoon, whilst defending caretaker boss David Unsworth.
Everton sacked manager Ronald Koeman last month after a 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal, having lost five of their first nine Premier League games – but their fortunes remain less-than-positive.
Caretaker boss David Unsworth has lost 2-1 to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, 2-0 to Leicester City in the Premier League and 3-0 to Lyon in the Europa League, with the Toffees’ season going from bad to worse.
Unsworth was always unlikely to land the job permanently, but his chances have taken a real hit over the last week, and he needs a result against Watford this afternoon to give himself a fighting chance.
The Hornets have mostly impressed under Marco Silva this season, but they dropped points at Chelsea when they should have won, before surprisingly losing at home to Stoke City last weekend.
Silva – who has been tentatively linked with Everton after Koeman’s exit – will be looking to get back on track today, and pile the misery on Toffees fans, who have had little to celebrate this season.
Ahead of the game, pundit Mark Lawrenson has moved to defend Unsworth, telling BBC Sport that he thinks he is a safe hand right now despite three defeats in a row, and is ultimately trying to get results with the same players Koeman struggled with.
Lawrenson added that he thinks Everton will win the game 2-0, suggesting that Watford may be entering some poor form after losing to both Chelsea and Stoke in their last two Premier League outings.
“I know Everton caretaker boss David Unsworth really well and I cannot believe the furore over him losing his first two games,” said Lawrenson. “He’s just taken over at caretaker, he’s trying to change it with the same players that Koeman couldn’t do a lot with. I think he knows that someone is going to come in – it is Everton and they have a wealthy owner – but he is a safe hand on the tiller. He will try to get them playing in the way which the supporters want, which is getting them having a go.”
“He didn’t take a lot of the senior players to Lyon for the Europa League game on Thursday so that shows where Everton’s focus is. I’m sure he discussed it with the hierarchy and said he would rather get three points against Watford than Lyon. I get that. Their predicament means they need to win some points in the league and I think they will beat Watford. Watford made a great start but they could, and should, have got something from Chelsea and then they got done at Stoke. I wonder if they are on a poor run at the moment,” he added.
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