Southampton welcome Tottenham Hotspur to St Mary’s Stadium in a festive Bank Holiday Tuesday clash.
Victory would see Southampton climb to tenth depending on results elsewhere, whereas Tottenham can reclaim fifth with a win if they lose the position to Man Utd on Monday evening.
Team News
Jack Stephens, Nathan Tella and Lyanco are all ruled out for Southampton following positive Coronavirus tests.
Alex McCarthy (thigh) remains ruled out.
Tottenham could welcome Dane Scarlett back into contention if he is fully match fit as he continues to rebuild his fitness after a recent bout of Coronavirus, which saw him left out of the Boxing Day win over Crystal Palace.
Cristian Romero (thigh) and Ryan Sessegnon (muscle) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have lost three of their last five Premier League meetings against Tottenham (W2, L3).
- Tottenham have won two of their last five Premier League visits to St Mary’s Stadium (W2, D1, L2).
- Spurs’ Son Heung-min scored five goals in two league appearances against Southampton last season, of which four of his goals came at St Mary’s Stadium.
- Southampton have scored first in four of their last five home matches (W2, D2).
- Cristian Romero who is out injured has been yellow carded in Tottenham’s last two away matches.
Prediction
Having had almost two weeks off between matches, Southampton did look fresh in their win at West Ham with a strong energy to their game on the ball on top of excellent teamwork, yet small errors prevented a clean sheet.
Having not played away from home domestically since early November, Tottenham now face a psychological test in adapting to playing away from home yet come into this match in strong form which will given them additional belief of a result.
Spurs’ away form though hasn’t exactly set the world alight this season but if they play like they did on Boxing Day with Lucas Moura proving a huge threat, it is hard to not see them getting a result here regardless of squad rotations.
Both teams though are coming into this game off the back of confident wins so I am expecting a competitive fight here, although the Saints’ defence could be their downfall given Spurs’ attacking quality and momentum at present.
Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Tottenham
Result: Southampton 1-1 Tottenham