As another packed schedule of fixtures begins, Southampton will be aiming to start the Christmas period on a high this weekend. Saints welcome Huddersfield to St. Mary’s on Saturday afternoon for the first reverse fixture of the season.
Following a week of disappointments and near misses, a home win in the final game before Christmas is much needed. At the start of the season this fixture will have been flagged as one of the most straightforward for Southampton. But as is often the case, predictions have failed to become a reality.
Huddersfield have defied expectations so far, and go into this fixture one position and three points above Saints. With a win on Saturday they could leapfrog Watford and find themselves in the top ten.
Southampton desperately need a win to stay in touch with the top half of the table. And with some tough fixtures coming thick and fast over the next ten days, this is one of their best chances to pick up points.
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Why Southampton will win
Despite taking just a single point from three matches last week, Southampton can take some positives from two of those performances. With a little more luck they could have taken three points from Arsenal and one away at Chelsea.
But it wasn’t to be, and the whole club knows that a response is needed this weekend.
Huddersfield are the first Premier League side that Pellegrino has previous experience of setting up against. And it will be interesting to see if the manager makes any specific tactical decisions based on his learnings from August’s 0-0 draw.
In terms of game-changers, Charlie Austin will be refreshed and expecting to return to the starting lineup. In his last seven games against Huddersfield, Austin has four goals and two assists. Hopefully this form will continue on Saturday.
Why Huddersfield will win
Huddersfield took six points from a possible nine last week, including an impressive 4-1 away win at Watford. They preceded this result by comfortably beating fellow Premier League debutants Brighton, and only dropped points against Chelsea.
Having hosted Saints in August after a storming start to Premier League life, Huddersfield face them again on the back of some pretty solid form. By now they have certainly proven that their early season results were not a fluke. The Yorkshire side find themselves in a respectable and deserved 11th place in the table, and will be looking to consolidate that.
Aside from a couple of absences and a doubt over first choice goalkeeper Lössl, Huddersfield arrive on the South coast close to full strength. Like Saints, they have had a week to prepare since their last fixture. And they will be eager to recreate the highs of that successful outing.
Predicted Lineups
Southampton:
Goalkeeper: Fraser Forster
Defenders: Matt Targett, Virgil van Dijk, Maya Yoshida, Jérémy Pied
Midfielders: Oriel Romeu, Mario Lemina, Dušan Tadić, Steven Davis, Nathan Redmond
Striker: Charlie Austin
Huddersfield:
Goalkeeper: Jonas Lössl
Defenders: Tom Smith, Christopher Schindler, Zanka, Chris Löwe
Midfielders: Daniel Williams, Aaron Mooy, Rajiv van La Parra, Tom Ince, Collin Quaner
Striker: Laurent Depoitre
Verdict – Southampton 2-1
Back in late August I predicted a draw in the reverse fixture, albeit a 2-2 draw rather than the actual 0-0 disappointment it was. This time I’m going with Saints to take all three points though. After a last minute setback against Arsenal and a collapse against Leicester, the team need a decent home performance. I think it will finally come this week.