Southampton look to continue their push for a top ten finish as they welcome Burnley to St Mary’s Stadium.
Both teams enter this match locked on 31 points along Arsenal and Newcastle who meet on Sunday, which means that a win will send either Southampton or Burnley up into tenth position.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesJames Ward Prowse is Southampton’s only doubt after suffering a knee injury during a 3-2 defeat at Tottenham in their FA Cup Fourth Round replay.
Burnley could have Matthew Lowton and Charlie Taylor back in contention after respective knee and hamstring injuries, although both players will face late fitness tests.
Ashley Barnes (groin) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (hamstring) are doubtful but could return next weekend against Bournemouth.
Form
Southampton have lost two of their last five league games (W3, L2) but just one of their last four home goals have come after half time.
Burnley are unbeaten in their last three (W2, D1) after losing their previous four beforehand, although they have scored just three goals in their last five away trips despite conceding on nine occasions.
Stat Attack
- Southampton are winless in their last six league meetings against Burnley (D3, L3).
- Burnley’s Ashley Barnes has scored three goals in his last two appearances against Southampton, although those three goals all came at Turf Moor.
- Southampton have lost just one of four previous Premier League clashes at home to Burnley (W2, D1, L1), despite failing to score in their last two such meetings at St Mary’s.
- Both teams have had two penalties in nine previous Premier League meetings, although Southampton missed on one occasion unlike Burnley.
- There is yet to be a red card in this Premier League fixture.
Prediction
Both teams found some positive form heading into the winter break, although Southampton did have three tough matches in their last three outings which exposed their defensive fragility.
Burnley should therefore look to come to St Mary’s and try and impose themselves quickly onto a fragile Saints backline, but the gust speeds however are going to be tricky to manage on top of the rain just to add extra unpredictability.
I therefore think that this game could come down to whoever adapts best to the weather conditions, of which this is a hard game to call so am going for a score draw.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Burnley
Result: Southampton 1-2 Burnley