Premier League action returns mid-week and Southampton are home to face Crystal Palace as only goal differential separates the sides on the table.
The two sides are both sitting on 22 points for the season with Crystal Palace being directly above the Saints on goal differential only. The first meeting between the two sides saw the Saints get their only win on the season under former-manager Mark Hughes.
Southampton won 2-0 on the back goals from Danny Ings and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. More recently, Southampton have won their past two matches while Palace have lost their last two. With both teams only 3 points above the relegation zone, they will both look at this match as a great opportunity to get more breathing space between them and the bottom.
This is how I expect the match to go.
Why Southampton Will Win
With a week and a half off to train and prepare, Hasenhuttl will undoubtedly have the troops ready to go for this one. No longer being in the FA cup has afforded them the luxury of time and the Austrian has had plenty of it to game plan for Wednesday.
I am sure he has watched the film from the first match against the London based team to see what was successful and what wasn’t and see how he can implement his style to obtain the same result. Most likely, he will stick with the same 3-4-2-1 formation he has been using for the majority of his time as manager.
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With most everyone healthy now, Bertrand and Lemina are still not fit, Hasenhuttl will be able to put together a strong starting XI. If the Saints, come out and attack the game they could win comfortably, especially against a palace team that is coming off a match on Sunday.
Why Crystal Palace Will Win
Palace, are a very capable team, just inconsistent. They have beaten City this year but cannot seem to string together a run of positive results. Their best stretch this season saw them win 2 and draw 1 in a three game span.
They are coming off 2 consecutive league losses but won over the weekend in the FA Cup against Tottenham.
The pace of players like Zaha and Townsend are sure to cause troubles on Wednesday and if they are able to get the ball in space and attack the back line they could create a few goals. It will have to be a low scoring affair if Palace want to win this match.
Predicted Line-ups
Southampton: 3-4-2-1
Keeper: Alex McCarthy
Defenders: Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Jack Stephens
Midfielders: Yan Valery, Oriel Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Matt Targett
Attacking Midfielders: Nathan Redmond, James Ward-Prowse
Forward: Danny Ings
Crystal Palace: 4-3-3
Keeper: Julian Speroni
Defenders: Patrick van Aanholt, Mamadou Sakho, James Tomkins, Aaron-Wan Bissake
Midfielders: Cheikhou Kouyate, Luka Milivojevic, James McArthur
Forwards: Andros Townsend, Jordan Ayew, Wilfired Zaha
Predicted Score
Southampton 3-1 Crystal Palace