Coming off a win against the Gunners, the Saints travel to take on Huddersfield and have an opportunity to win back-to-back games.
In what has been deemed a 6-pointer by Hasenhuttl himself, Southampton will look to carry their momentum into the match against the Terriers and prove last Sunday was not a fluke. Most everyone is seemingly fit for this match and the squad selection for the Austrian will be interesting. Obviously, the squad he selected against Arsenal worked. But, no offense to Huddersfield, they are not Arsenal.
My guess, is he will go with his favored formation of a 4-2-2-2 and look to apply a lot of pressure on Huddersfield whenever they are in positon of the ball and look to score early and often. Let us take a look how each team could win this match.
Why Huddersfield will win
The Terriers have the lowest goal scoring total in the Premier League this season with 10. But, that does not mean they can snatch a result. They have a solid defense that is more than capable of producing a clean sheet at home. The longer the game stays 0-0 the better chance Huddersfield have at nabbing a late goal and coming away with all three points.
Unfortunately, they are not going to have their play maker Aaron Mooy, who has 2 goals on the season. This hurts for a number of reason because he is the focal point of the offense and the Terriers will need to find another outlet to run their offense through.
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They will have to make this game ugly and not have it be wide open. If they match opens up, it favors the Saints and they could lose by a few goals. If they stay compact and do not make any mistakes defensively they can grind out a 0-0 draw or even win 1-0.
Why Southampton will win
The culture is changing on the South Coast and this match is a chance to solidify everything Hasenhuttl has been preaching so far during his time as manager.
Coming off their best victory in a while the Saint players will be buzzing to continue the trend. I expect them to be flying around the pitch. Pressing Huddersfield in their own half and causing chaos for the other relegation threatened side.
The Saints will most likely have the majority of the possession and the majority of the chances in this match. It will just be a matter of whether or not they can take advantage of their opportunities and build a comfortable lead early in the match.
It is highly unlikely they will score from 3 headers again so it will be interesting if they will actually be able to score using their feet in this one. If they can, they should be able to win easily and walk away with 3 point before facing West Ham.
Predicted Line-ups
Huddersfield: 3-5-1-1
Goalkeeper: Jonas Lossl
Defenders: Mathias Jorgensen, Christopher Schindler, Terence Kongolo
Midfielders: Florent Hasdergjonaj, Juninho Bacuna, Jonathan Hogg, Philip Biling, Chris Lowe
Attacking Midfielder: Alex Pritchard
Forwards: Laurent Depoitre
Southampton: 4-2-2-2
Goalkeeper: Alex McCarthy
Defenders: Matt Targett, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Yan Valery
Midfielders: Mario Lemina, Pierre-Emili Hojbjerg
Attacking Midfielders: Nathan Redmond, Stuart Armstrong
Forwards: Danny Ings, Shane Long
Predicted Score
Huddersfield 0-2 Southampton