Stoke City vs. Southampton: Preview and predictions
On Saturday afternoon, Saints take on Stoke City at the Bet 365 Stadium knowing that taking three points from the game should be the target.
Despite losing last time out at home to Manchester United, Saints put out one of their best performances of the season and were unlucky not to get something from the game. With no disrespect, Stoke will be an easier fixture but an away game in Stoke is never easily won.
We are looking sharp and are improving every game so, after two good performances in a row, this game is a real opportunity to pick up points and score some goals, especially with the huge array of players they have on the injury list.
Stoke were missing several of their main defenders against Chelsea, who beat them 4-0 at the Bet 365, and will be without more names from their first team. Chelsea loanee Kurt Zouma was ineligible to play against his parent club but should be back for Stoke, whereas Kevin Wimmer, Bruno Martins Indi, Ryan Shawcross and Geoff Cameron are all unfit for the match.
However, they still possess a number of threats including Xherdan Shaqiri who has proven his passing, dribbling and long-range shooting abilities.
Southampton should see this game as a must-win though as, even though Stoke have scored one more league goal than Saints, they sit in 16th after two consecutive defeats and Saints are in 11th, where three points will launch them up the table.
Why Southampton will win
Even though they haven’t been scoring enough goals, Saints do have a decent number of attacking options in their line-up, the main problem is creating good enough chances for strikers to feed off of. I’m backing them to score more than once on Saturday, especially against a Stoke side who will be fielding some inexperienced players in defence.
Our defence is definitely one of the best in the Premier League if Virgil van Dijk starts – who may be in contention for his first starting place of the season. Pellegrino has also stated that playing with three central defenders is a formation that he is curious of tinkering with.
More from Saints Marching
- Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
- Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
- It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
- Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
- A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse
We are unlikely to have too much trouble in terms of defending so if the men upfront can put the ball into the back of the net then we will get something from the game.
Why Stoke will win
Stoke haven’t been given much of a fair chance in this game with the injury problems that they possess and so there may be some fringe players that want to prove critics wrong. Jese, Shaqiri, and Choupo-Moting are all dangerous players that Mark Hughes could field and they will be no easy match for our defence. Even though performances of late from them haven’t been up to scratch, they will have the home supporters cheering them on which may prove difficult for Saints.
Predicted Line-ups
Southampton:
Goalkeeper: Fraser Forster
Defence: Ryan Bertrand, Wesley Hoedt, Virgil van Dijk, Cedric
Midifeld: Oriol Romeu, Mario Lemina, Steven Davis, Nathan Redmond, Dusan Tadic
Striker: Manolo Gabbiadini
Stoke City:
Goakeeper: Jack Butland
Defence: Glen Johnson, Kurt Zouma, Erik Pieters
Midfield: Mame Diouf, Joe Allen, Darren Fletcher, Ramadan Sobhi
Forwards: Jese Rodriguez, Maxim Choup-Moting, Xherdan Shaqiri
Verdict
If we put the right performance in then we will get something from this game. However, I don’t think a point will be enough and that all three should be the target. I’m going for a 2-0 win for Saints as I think we’ll be able to get a few goals and our defence have enough quality to keep another clean-sheet!
Stoke City 0-2 Southampton