Hull v Southampton: Preview and Predictions
By Josh Kingdom
On Saturday, Saints host a 17th placed Hull City team who will be fighting to try and stay into the top division, while Saints will be making a late push to secure European football next season.
Tuesdays defeat at Stamford Bridge leaves Southampton with just three points in their last three games, and a tough run in is still to come, with three of the top six in their remaining six games.
As for Hull, they come into this fixture with just two defeats in their last five games and have won the rest of their matches including their victory over Watford at the weekend.
Both sides will definitely have different goals and aspirations for the remainder of the season. The Tigers will want to pick up as many points as possible with a position in the Premier League for next season not yet secured as they are two points away from the drop zone. As for Southampton, they will be trying to make a late push to qualify for next seasons Europa League.
Why Southampton will win
One of the main reasons for Hull’s low-league position is their form away from home. In their eighteen games played away from the KCOM this year, they have picked up just eight points (2W 2D 14L).
Meanwhile more and more Saints players seem to be making their return from injury in recent weeks, including Matt Targett and Charlie Austin this week, meaning there will be more ‘high quality’ options for Claude Puel to choose from when rotating the squad.
Why Hull will win
One main reason why Marco Silva’s side could prevail is that they’ve had more time to prepare for the fixture in comparison to Claude Puel’s side.
The Tigers last played last Saturday but the Saints had to endure a mid-week trip to London to accommodate their game against league-leading Chelsea.
Hull were also victories in the reverse fixture which will give them the upper-hand going into the game tomorrow.
Southampton Predicted XI
Goalkeeper – Fraser Forster
Defenders – Cedric Soares, Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida, Sam McQueen
Midfielders – Jordy Clasie, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse, Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond
Forwards – Shane Long
Hull Predicted XI
Goalkeeper – Eldin Jakupovic
Defenders – Ahmed Elmohamody, Michael Dawson, Andrea Ranocchia, Andrew Robertson
Midfielders – Tom Huddlestone, Sam Clucas, Abel Hernandez
Forwards – Lazar Markovic, Oumar Niasse, Kamil Grosicki
The Verdict
Southampton 2-0 Hull City