The final match is upon us and Southampton will take on Huddersfield in the finale of this tumultuous season and look to go out on a high note.
Sunday will be a bittersweet day. The season is ending and we will not have a Saints match for several months but we go into the offseason knowing we will be back in the Premier League next season. The goal right now is to send us off with a victory.
So let us take a look at how they could accomplish that and how Huddersfield could spoil that.
Why Southampton Will Win
The Saints and Huddersfield both have nothing really to play for but the Saints are in front of the home crowd and will want to send them off with a bang.
Last match was a chance for some players to get a chance to play that have not gotten a lot of playtime this season but that was away in London. This is at home and the crowd will want to see their favorites one last time and give them a proper send off and the players will want to reward them for sticking with them this season.
I suspect Nathan Redmond will be in the starting line-up and he is going to go out there and have fun and try to do some special things when he gets on the ball. A brace from the Englishman would be a fantastic way to close out his season and put the cherry on top of his POTY season.
The match will be wide open and will give a lot of players to have opportunities to score on both sides. Saints have the more talent and more motivation to win at home so I expect they will win by more than 1 goal.
Why Huddersfield Will Win
With their season over and this being the final match of their Premier League tenure the team will likely go out there and just try to enjoy themselves for the final time.
They have no reason to sit back and absorb pressure, the match will be open and free-flowing. Because of that, Huddersfield will have their chances to score and could find themselves up when the final whistle goes.
This will mostly depend on how strong of a line-up Hasenhuttl puts on the pitch.
Predicted Line-ups
Southampton: 4-2-2-2
Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn
Defenders: Yan Valery, Jan Bednarek, Jack Stephens, Ryan Bertrand
Midfielders: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Mario Lemina
Attacking Midfielders: James Ward-Prowse, Nathan Redmond
Strikers: Shane Long, Danny Ings
Huddersfield: 4-3-3
Goalkeeper: Jonas Lossl
Defenders: Erik Durm, Christopher, Terence Kongolo, Chris Lowe
Midfielders: Aaron Mooy, Jonathan Hogg, Juninho Bacuna
Forwards: Alex Pritchard, Karlan Grant, Issac Mbenza
Predicted Score
Southampton 3-1 Huddersfield