Southampton welcome Wolves to St Mary’s Stadium as both teams look to mount a challenge for fifth.
Southampton could climb into the top ten with at least a point if Arsenal and Everton both lose elsewhere, whilst Wolves look to leapfrog Sheffield United into sixth.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesYan Valery is Southampton’s only absentee as he continues to recover from a ‘viral infection’ which has sidelined him for the last month.
Wolves will be without Ruben Vinagre after the Portuguese winger suffered a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s FA Cup replay defeat at Manchester United.
Willy Boly (ankle) and Diogo Jota (calf) are still ruled out until at least next month.
Form
Southampton come into this game with no defeats in their last six across all competitions (W5, D1), although they have kept just two home clean sheets in 12 attempts this season.
Wolves enter this match without a win in their last five across all competitions (D2, L3), and have earned just five goals from across their last five away trips.
Stat Attack
- Southampton are unbeaten in two of their last six meetings with Wolves in all competitions (W1, D1, L4).
- Wolves have avoided defeat in just two of five previous Premier League (PL) meetings (W1, D1, L3).
- Under the management of Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves have scored in their last four games against Southampton in all competitions.
- There is yet to be a red car in this Premier League fixture between Southampton and Wolves.
- Both teams have kept just one clean sheet each in five previous PL meetings, of which both clean sheets came at home in 2-0 wins.
Prediction
With both teams in contrasting form, I can see a cracker coming here because Southampton are looking to mount a charge towards the Europa spots, whereas Wolves are fighting to stay close to fifth-placed Manchester United.
Defence therefore will be crucial given that the Saints have found their goalscoring boots and were able to weather Leicester’s quality to win from behind, which is a concern for Wolves who were dominant in midweek at Old Trafford yet weren’t clinical enough.
Southampton however have that spark about them now so should be able to win this, although my gut instinct says a draw.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Wolves
Result: Southampton 2-3 Wolves