Southampton v Stoke: Preview and Predictions
This Sunday marks the final games of the Premier League season. A season that has seen some normality resume in terms of the final league positions. Southampton take on Stoke at St Mary’s Stadium looking to consolidate 8th place.
Much can be read into recent interviews with Ralph Kruger and Claude Puel about how the summer will unfold for both manager and players. First of all Southampton must seek to gain all three points against a Stoke side who have had a very inconsistent season themselves.
This fixture in the 15/16 season ended up 1-0 to the visitors with Bojan scoring after just 10 minutes. Southampton’s home form this season has been particularly poor, so Stoke may fancy themselves to get a result.
Neither team is in great form, both have managed just 1 win in the last 5 games. Stoke’s most recent success was an April win against Hull and have conceded 8 goals in the last 4 games. Most recently a 4-1 reverse against Arsenal.
Southampton’s last win came against West Brom in a 1-0 away win. Goals at home have been hard to come by for the Saints, the midweek 0-0 draw with Manchester United the 4th consecutive game they have failed to score. A first in Premier League history for Claude Puel’s side.
Why Southampton will win
The players should be keen to give the fans a good send off at St Mary’s. Much has been said of the support this season, Nathan Redmond in particular has been particularly impressed with the fans. The season has not panned out exactly as planned despite a potential 8th place finish and a cup final.
Gabbiadini has not been in great form recently, so Austin may come into the team to exploit Stoke’s leaky defence. Boufal is also a player who may flourish against a rigid team like Stoke.
The performance against Manchester United was not particularly bad, with six shots on target it was only the heroics of Sergio Romero that kept Southampton at bay.
If the team can replicate that performance and the efforts at goal, they stand a very good chance of dispatching Stoke with relative ease.
Why Stoke will win
Stoke have been unpredictable all season. They started off the season in terrible form, but rapidly picked up points to catapult them to the top half of the table.
They now find themselves settled in 14th with a top 10 finish out of reach. Although, Stoke still possess some quality attacking players in Shaqiri and Arnautovic, if Southampton want to win this game it is imperative that these two are kept quiet.
One of Stoke’s key strengths is arguably one of Southampton’s weaknesses. Stoke are a large team who are always a threat from set pieces. The aforementioned Shaqiri can deliver a wicked ball and with the likes of Ryan Shawcross in the penalty area there is always the potential for goals.
Southampton Predicted XI
Goalkeeper: Fraser Forster
Defence: Matt Targett, Maya Yoshida, Jack Stephens, Jeremy Pied
Midfielders: Steven Davis, Oriol Romeu , James Ward-Prowse, Sofiane Boufal, Nathan Redmond
Striker: Charlie Austin
Stoke Predicted XI
Goalkeeper: Jack Butland
Defenders: Glen Johnson, Ryan Shawcross, Bruno Martins-Indi, Erik Pieters
Midfielders: Geoff Cameron, Glenn Whelan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Joe Allen, Marko Arnautovic
Forwards: Saido Berahino
Verdict
Southampton have marginally more to play for than Stoke in this game and that should tell. Although, Mark Hughes may decide to use this as a friendly fixture and give some of the fringe players some minutes. I fully expect Southampton to end their dire home form at the expense of Stoke come Sunday.