Southampton have been given a potential boost ahead of their meeting with Everton in the Premier League on Sunday. Carlo Ancelotti has refused to drop faith in controversial club figure Jordan Pickford, who recently evaded a red card during the Merseyside derby.

The England international looks to remain Everton's first and only choice moving forwards this season, after a blistering start sees them top of the table. But Ancelotti's stubbornness to acknowledge Pickford's error-prone ways could be a golden opportunity for the Saints to cause upset.

Southampton must target Pickford

Ralph Hasenhuttl already boasts an upper-hand by fielding Danny Ings, who has scored more goals against Everton than any other club in his career (via Transfermarkt). The ex-Liverpool man has continued his fiery form from last campaign, already bagging four goals in five. He will certainly be a player fired up and ready to make an impact on the St Mary's fixture.

In his recent press conference, Hasenhuttl admitted he hoped Pickford would have been sent off for his rash tackle on Virgil Van Dijk. Due to an offside decision, the shot-stopper avoided any punishment and will be available for selection tomorrow.

"Sure," the Austrian laughed when asked should Pickford have been given his marching orders. "Because then he wouldn't play against us."

The Saints boss, who went on to label the keeper's challenge as "disastrous", clearly sees the Toffees 'keeper as a threat, but his attackers have a good chance of forcing him into an error. Despite Everton's unbeaten streak so far, their performance against Brighton saw them ship two goals, with Pickford being directly at fault for one of them. Last season alone, the 26-year-old cost his side four goals and made an additional two errors which led to an opposition shot (via Sofascore).

These certainly aren't the numbers of a confident goalkeeper. Southampton, led by the hungry Ings, have every chance of catching Pickford flat-footed and causing a huge upset to the league leaders.

In other news, Southampton made shrewd £13m profit on one ex-defender just in the nick of time...