Southampton look to starve off relegation in a home clash against Fulham at St Mary’s Stadium.
Anything less than victory would see Southampton’s relegation to the Championship confirmed, whilst Fulham can go ninth with a win.
Team News
Che Adams is a doubt for Southampton after he suffered a knock during their defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Armel Bella-Kotchap (hamstring) is ruled out whilst Romain Perraud (ankle), Mohamed Salisu (hip), Valentino Livramento (muscle) and Juan Larios (adductor) remain absent.
Fulham will welcome Aleksandar Mitrovic back into contention following the Serbian’s completion of an eight-match ban.
Tim Ream (arm), Layvin Kurzawa (knee), Daniel James (hamstring) and Andreas Pereira (leg) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off
Southampton host Fulham at St Mary’s Stadium in a 3pm BST kick-off on Saturday 13 May, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Southampton are unbeaten in three of their last five league meetings against Fulham (W2, D1, L2).
- Fulham are yet to win away to Southampton in the Premier League (D4, L4).
- There is yet to be a red card in this Premier League fixture following 17 previous meetings.
- No British Isles goalkeeper has conceded more league goals this season than Southampton’s Gavin Bazunu, with the Irish international having conceded 67 goals in 32 appearances.
- Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored more headed league goals than any other Fulham player this season, having headed in four goals in 21 appearances.
Prediction
With relegation all but mathematically confirmed barring a miracle following another defensively shambolic performance in their defeat at Forest, Southampton now simply have to throw the entire kitchen at this game and hope results elsewhere keep their survival dreams alive for one more week.
Ruben Seles’ Sants though can be proud of their attacking resilience because they never gave up at Forest even at 3-1 down, but their home performances in comparison has been fairly lacklustre compared to when on the road which is a huge worry.
Fulham meanwhile will be glad to have Mitrovic back top but the past month has shown that the Cottagers are strong enough to produce results without him, even though their defending has been more loose with just one clean sheet in 13 games across all competitions.
Marco Silva however will be eager to see how Fulham respond to their defensive sloppiness which could of easily cost them the win against Leicester, having been 3-0 up at half-time with a lively attacking display only to eventually prevail 5-3 come full-time.
All eyes meanwhile are on Southampton and unless they can play with the same gutsy attacking spirit and tighter defending, I fancy Fulham to end their winless away hoodoo against the Saints especially off the back of their stunning win against Leicester and Mitrovic’s return will add firepower.
Prediction: Southampton 0-2 Fulham
Result: Southampton 0-2 Fulham