Southampton look to bounce back from a crushing defeat at the weekend as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints welcome Leicester City to St Mary’s Stadium.
Depending on results elsewhere, Southampton could climb as high as 11th whereas Leicester can go sixth with a win if Brighton and Wolves both lose elsewhere.
Team News
Mohamed Elyounoussi could return for Southampton after missing Saturday’s defeat at Liverpool for personal reasons.
Ibrahima Diallo (ankle) is also set to be in contention but Moussa Djenepo (personal) and Jack Stephens (knee) are doubts.
Stuart Armstrong remains absent with a calf injury.
Leicester won’t risk Youri Tielemans unless he is fully fit as the Belgium midfielder nears his return from a calf injury.
James Justin (knee), Ricardo Pereira (hamstring) and Wesley Fofana (leg) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Southampton are unbeaten in three of their last five league meetings against Leicester (W2, D1, L2).
- Leicester are unbeaten in their last four visits to Southampton (W3, D1).
- One Leicester defender has scored in each of their last three visits to St Mary’s Stadium.
- No Southampton player has produced more shots in their 13 league games so far this season than Adam Armstrong – who has created 37 shots in 12 appearances.
- James Maddison is looking to score in three straight appearances across all competitions for Leicester for the first time since January 2021, when he netted in league appearances against Newcastle, Southampton and Chelsea respectively.
Prediction
Having formed a habit of bright starts in recent games, Southampton will be bitterly disappointed with their performance at Liverpool on Saturday because they were outplayed from the first whistle despite hard pressing.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints though have to improve defensively because their flanks were largely unguarded until Liverpool were on the attack, whilst marking and spacing within the box were poorly dealt with on top of slow reactions to close gaps.
Leicester though come into this game off the back of two resurgent performances in the last week with James Maddison in particular proving a nuisance, although their attack applied aggressive intensity in Sunday’s win over Watford with players pouncing on gaps and taking their chances.
Brendan Rogers though will be more happy with his team’s defensive improvement in their last two games because they look more solid in defence, although they did understandably struggle in heavy snow on Sunday.
There however will be no threat of snow here so the start will be crucial for both teams because if Southampton can score early, this could be a cracking edgy battle otherwise I can see Leicester racing away to a third win in six days if they continue to improve.
Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Leicester
Result: Southampton 2-2 Leicester