?Southampton and Hull City square off in the Premier League on Saturday with the latter’s top flight survival at stake.
The Tigers’ horrendous away form is likely to ensure that nothing more than a home victory is on the cards, but a shock away win may be in the offing given how crazy England’s top flight can sometimes be.
Marco Silva’s men are desperate for points to prevent crashing back into the Championship, while the Saints will look for all three points to cement a top 10 finish at the end of the season.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the clash at St. Mary’s stadium:
Classic Encounter
Southampton may have suffered defeat in their last meeting with Hull in November, but you would have to go back to February 1951 for the last time the Saints lost a home clash with the Tigers.
Their most recent resounding triumph over the Humberside outfit came in November 2013, when a much-changed Saints side put Hull 4-1 to the sword.
Morgan Schneiderlin got Southampton off to a good start – nodding home past Steve Harper from Rickie Lambert’s cut back on 16 minutes – before Lambert himself doubled their advantage from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark.
Adam Lallana’s fine solo effort put the Saints two goals ahead on 67 minutes after Yannick Sagbo had reduced the deficit 10 minutes into the second period, and Steven Davis put the gloss on a superb home showing two minutes from time as he swept home Nathaniel Clyne’s cross to send Southampton up to third in the league table.
Key Battle
Manolo Gabbiadini vs Harry Maguire & Andrea Ranocchia
With just two clean sheets on the road in 2016/17 – against Swansea and Manchester United – Hull’s inability to keep opposing sides out in well documented.
Southampton, on the other hand, have failed to score in just four home league matches this term and will fancy their chances of netting at least once against their ailing opponents.
In Manolo Gabbiadini, the Saints certainly have a natural goalscorer in their ranks, but the January signing has failed to net since he returned from a lengthy lay-off with a groin strain.
The 25-year-old begun life on the South coast in blistering form – five goals in his first four outings – and, despite his profligacy since achieving 100% fitness again, would back himself to end his goal drought against Hull’s leaky defence.
In Harry Maguire and Andrea Ranocchia, the Tigers do have a decent centre-back pairing. Maguire, in particular, has performed well in spite of Hull’s struggles and is believed to be interesting Everton ahead of the summer window. The duo, however, are not blessed with pace and, if Gabbiadini can exploit such a weakness in their backline with his off-the-ball movement, they could be vulnerable to shipping goals once again.
If Maguire and Ranocchia manage to nullify Gabbiadini early on, though, they could deflate the Italian enough to register a third away clean sheet – and potentially all three points in the process.
Team News
Claude Puel has concerns over Sofiane Boufal after the forward picked up a knock against Chelsea on Tuesday, and the winger will likely add his name to ever-growing injury list on the South coast.
Key defensive star Virgil van Dijk remains sidelined with a foot problem, while Charlie Austin is also still unable to feature, as Puel contends with six personnel missing through injury.
For Hull, Oumar Niasse is free to play after his red card last Saturday was overturned by the FA, but Marco Silva is without the services of David Meyler (knee ligament) and Omar Elabdellaoui (back) for the trip to St. Mary’s.
Potential Southampton Starting Lineup: Forster; Soares, Yoshida, Stephens, Bertrand; Romeu, Clasie; Tadic, Davis, Ward-Prowse; Gabbiadini.
Potential Hull Starting Lineup: Jakupovic; Elmohamady, Maguire, Ranocchia, Robertson; Clucas, N’Diaye; Markovic, Diomande, Grosicki; Niasse.
Prediction
With Southampton unbeaten against Hull on home soil in the last 15 outings, and with the Tigers’ terrible form on their travels, it’s hard to argue against a home banker for Saturday’s contest.
To further compound Hull’s chances, the Saints have lost just one game this term against teams in the bottom half of the Premier League, while Silva’s men have picked up just one away point from a possible 21 under the Portuguese gaffer since he took charge.
Of course, England’s top flight has a knack for throwing up shocking results so there is every chance that Hull could spring the surprise of the weekend to help their survival chances – but don’t bet your house on it.
Prediction: Southampton 3-1 Hull City
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