Southampton vs. Bournemouth: Prem League – Preview and Predictions

Southampton are coming off a win last weekend and welcome their South Coast neighbors (not a derby) to St Mary’s for a Friday night clash

The two sides come into this match dead even on the table; not even their goal differential separate the sides.

For Southampton, this match represents a chance to get to double digit points, 11 matches before they reached that mark last season.

The last two meetings between the sides ended in draws so let us take a look how each side could break that streak and take home all 3 points.

How Southampton Will Win

Southampton are trying to make it 5 matches unbeaten across all competitions and have some momentum going into the real South Coast Derby next Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if Hasenhuttl reverts back to the 4-2-2-2 with the return of Kevin Danso.

I think it would be advantageous if he did return to his preferred formation for the following reasons. Bournemouth, have yet to keep a clean sheet this season and have looked leaky in the back, so Southampton absolutely need to take advantage of this on Friday.

I suspect the press will be in full-effect and Hasenhuttl will expect his men to have double digit shots in this match. Bournemouth have a more than capable offense so it may take multiple goals to win this match.

We know what Djenepo and Boufal are capable of so it will come down to our strikers stepping up and being more clinical in front of next than they have been to start the season.

How Bournemouth Will Win

Bournemouth, are coming off an exciting 3-1 win against Everton last weekend and would love to keep the ball rolling against the Saints. The tail of their season thus far is they have plenty of attacking talent but have some concerns in the back.

Bournemouth would like this match to be an open game because if their attacking players can get into space and attack the net they would like their chances of winning this match.

If they are to win this match they will likely have to score multiple goals as well so this could be a high scoring affair much like the last time the two teams met.

This match will really come down to who can finish their chances better.

Predicted Line-ups

Southampton: 4-2-2-2

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn

Defenders: Cedric, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Kevin Danso

Midfielders: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oriol Romeu

Attacking Midfielders: Moussa Djenepo, Sofiane Boufal

Strikers: Che Adams, Danny Ings

Bournemouth: 4-4-2

Goalkeeper: Aaron Ramsdale

Defenders: Jack Stacey, Steve Cook, Nathan Ake, Diego Rico

Midfielders: Harry Wilson, Lewis Cook, Phillip Billing, Josh King

Strikers: Dominic Solanke, Callum Wilson

Predicted Score

Southampton 3-1 Bournemouth