Cardiff are coming off the back of an emotional victory and look to challenge Southampton at St. Mary’s in a match that will shape the relegation battle.
Only two points separate the sides after the past weekend that saw Cardiff win and the Saints drop two points at death versus Burnley.
The first time the sides met was Hasenhuttl’s first match in-charge and ended in a 1-0 loss for the Saints, after a Vestergaard mistake on the ball. Since then the teams have headed in opposite directions. Cardiff have dropped down into the relegation zone and the Saints have climbed up into safety.
But the two teams could flip situations if someone were to win this Saturday so let us see how each team could win on Saturday.
Why Southampton will win
Southampton, are a brand new team compared to when they squared off with Cardiff the first time around. The Saints, are scoring more goals and Hasenhuttl’s tactics have been fully implanted which means we should see a completely different match than the first one.
The home side will most likely have the majority of the possession this match and it will just be a question of how well they can create against a defense that is sitting back. They struggled bit to score against two teams that sat back having only scored one goal in the last two matches.
Southampton will also be reinforced by the like of Hojbjerg, Yoshida, and Bertrand who are all in contention to play this match. With the re-introduction of Hojbjerg, after he missed the last match with a concussion, the offense will get a spark back and will be more creative and better going forward.
I expect the Saints to turn in a multiple goal performance and if they can keep a clean sheet or hold the Bluebirds to one goal it should be all 3 points for the home side and 5 points from the bottom
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Why Cardiff will win
The Bluebirds just won an emotional match against the cherries and will look to ride that momentum into St. Mary’s. Bobby Reid, netted two goals and they will look to ride his hot hand and hope the goals do not dry up on the South Coast.
Outside of Reid, players like Sol Bamba and Callum Paterson are deadly in the air and if the Saints are not careful will concede to one if not both of these players if Cardiff can get enough set piece opportunities.
Cardiff are very susceptible to conceding, having conceded 46 times this season, but they did hold Bournemouth to a clean shit. So, if they can replicate that performance they have a decent shot at winning this match.
Predicted Lineups
Southampton: 3-4-2-1
Keeper: Alex McCarthy
Defenders: Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Maya Yoshida
Midfielders: Yan Valery, Oriel Romeu, Pierre-Emili Hojbjerg, Matt Targett
Attacking Midfielders: Nathan Redmond, James Ward-Prowse
Striker: Shane Long
Cardiff: 4-4-1-1
Keeper: Neil Etheridge
Defender: Lee Peltier, Bruno Manga, Sol Bamba, Joe Bennett
Midfielder: Callum Paterson, Aron Gunnarsson, Joe Ralls, Josh Murphey
Attacking Midfielder: Bobby Reid
Striker: Baye Niasse
Predicted Score
Southampton 3-1 Cardiff