Southampton welcome Crystal Palace to St Mary’s Stadium in a mid-table Premier League clash.
Victory would see Southampton climb as high as ninth if Newcastle and Brighton both lose elsewhere, whereas Palace can leapfrog their hosts with a win and go 11th if Brighton don’t get a single point at Wolves.
Team News
Valentino Livramento is ruled out for Southampton after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the Saints’ comeback 2-2 draw at Brighton last Sunday.
Alex McCarthy (thigh) remains a doubt as he nears a return to full fitness.
Palace could welcome Tyrick Mitchell back into contention after he missed their goalless draw against Leeds due to illness.
Luka Milivojevic (hamstring) could feature but Nathan Ferguson (hamstring) remains absent.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have lost just one of their last seven meetings against Crystal Palace (W3, D3).
- Palace have won just one of their last five visits to St Mary’s Stadium (W1, D2, L2).
- Southampton have conceded in the second minute in each of their last two meetings against Palace.
- No Premier League player has played more crosses this season than Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, who has delivered 276 crosses this season.
- Palace’s Michael Olise has been used as a substitute in 13 league matches this season.
Prediction
Having found themselves involved in a competitively entertaining draw at Brighton last weekend, Southampton should be happy with how they attacked that game, amidst fantastic saves from Fraser Forster amidst a mixture of sloppy defending and inaccurate finishing.
Palace meanwhile looked back to their best with a dominant performance in Monday’s high-energy goalless draw against Leeds, yet just lacked the final touch which they will be hoping comes here against a Southampton team prone to defensive errors.
I however can see the Saints winning this if they can bring their attacking intensity from last weekend into this clash, whilst tightening up defensively otherwise this could be a fair draw given that there isn’t much at stake for both clubs.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace
Result: Southampton 1-2 Crystal Palace