Southampton welcome Norwich City to St Mary’s Stadium in a huge Friday Night Football showdown.
Victory will see Southampton climb to ninth until Saturday afternoon at minimum, whereas Norwich can move off the foot of the table into 19th with a win for at least 19 hours.
Team News
Romain Perraud is set to return for Southampton after recovering from Coronavirus, which forced him to miss their 2-0 home win over Everton last weekend.
Nathan Tella (groin) is a doubt but Alex McCarthy (thigh) and Lyanco (hamstring) are still ruled out.
Norwich could welcome Lukas Rupp back after he recently suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Tim Krul (shoulder) and Jakob Sorensen (knee) could also feature if the pair are declared match fit but Andrew Omobamidele (back) and Adam Idah (knee) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have lost two of their last six league meetings against Norwich (W4, L2).
- Norwich have claimed just one point from their last four league visits to Southampton (D1, L3).
- Norwich’s Teemu Pukki has scored in two of his last three appearances against Southampton.
- No Scottish player in the Premier League this season has scored more goals than Southampton’s Che Adams (6).
- Tim Krul is the only Norwich player to have made an error which has led to a goal this season.
Prediction
With a solid gap to the relegation zone, Southampton should be confident of extending that gap if they continue their recent progress with solid pressing and movement, which in particularly was a difficult hassle for Everton to cope with last weekend as their mistakes were punished.
Norwich meanwhile did a great job of pushing Liverpool hard throughout the opening hour at Anfield yet their defensive issues proved their downfall, although they can take heart from their overall performance because they did look confident when on the attack.
This game therefore could be tighter than many expect if Norwich can bring their best attacking boots but Southampton look in strong form, especially with their overall movement across the pitch so might be just too strong if they’re at their best.
Prediction: Southampton 2-1 Norwich
Result: Southampton 2-0 Norwich
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