Tottenham vs Southampton: Preview and Predictions

Mark Hughes is no longer at the helm and Kelvin Davis will take charge of the team when they go to Wembley to face Spurs midweek.

Southampton are coming off a 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Saturday while Spurs are coming off a loss to bitter rivals, Arsenal on Sunday.

Both teams will be looking to get all 3 points from this match (as is every team is in every match) but for completely different reasons. Tottenham, with their loss on Sunday dropped out of the top 4 and are no longer in a Champions League spot. Southampton, still sit 18th on the table and a win will lift them safely above the relegation zone.

Let us take a look how each team will be able to snatch the spoils from this match.

Why Tottenham will win

Tottenham will be ready to go against a side that is sitting on the bottom of the table like Southampton after losing to Arsenal and dropping to 5th on the table. Their high powered attack, led by the likes of Harry Kane, have scored 25 goals on the season and will look to add to that tally Wednesday.

Spurs, have scored a combined 12 goals against Saints over past 4 times they have met, including a 5-2 drubbing at Wembley last season that saw the end of Fraser Forster’s time as starting goalkeeper for the south coast side.

Former Saint Manager Mauricio Pochettino, is relishing the chance to face his former team and former player, Davis. He will look to use his fast attacking style and high quality attacking players to pour in the goals and try to regain their top 4 position. For the London side, they will not have to face Lemina, Bertrand, Obafemi, nor Ings due to injury or yellow card accumulation.

Tottenham will not view this as a guaranteed win but will go into this match believing they can win easily.

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Why Southampton will win

Although Hasenhuttl has not been officially announced as manager of the club, by all counts, it is a done deal. The prospect of an exciting new manager and playing for Kelvin Davis for a match should motivate the players to go out there and give it their all.

The form of players like Nathan Redmond and Stuart Armstrong has been encouraging for fans and scoring two against Manchester United will have confidence a bit higher than normal.

For Southampton to win this match they will have to not get caught out by the Tottenham counter attack and look to possess the ball for stretches of time. If they manage to nick a goal early in the match they still need to try and control the game from a possession stand point. Parking the bus and allowing Tottenham to possess the ball for long spells of time will only lead to them scoring and ultimately Southampton dropping points.

This match has almost a “nothing to lose” feel to it because most supporters do not expect anything from this match and are already looking ahead to the weekend against Cardiff. With that said, hopefully the players go out there and play with no fear and hopefully shock the league by stealing a result at Wembley.

Predicted Line-ups

Tottenham: 4-2-3-1

Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris

Defenders: Ben Davies, Toby Alderweireld, Juan Foyth, Serge Aurier

Midfielders: Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks,

Attacking Midfielders: Lucas, Christian Eriksen, Hueng-min Son

Forwards: Harry Kane

Southampton: 3-5-2

Goalkeeper: Alex McCarthy

Defenders: Jannik Vestergaard, Jack Stephens, Jan Bedanrek

Midfielders: Cedric Soares, Pierre-Emili Hojbjerg, Oriol Romeu, Stuart Armstrong, Yan Valery

Forwards: Manolo Gabbiadini, Nathan Redmond

Predicted Score

Tottenham 2-1 Southampton