Southampton return to Premier League action on Saturday as they travel to face Wolves at Molineux.
Both sides will go into this one in differing form with Saints on a three game losing streak, whilst Wolves’ form has picked up well of late.
The meetings between the two teams last season saw a 2-0 away defeat for Saints before Christmas but a vital 3-1 victory late in the campaign at St Mary’s.
With Ralph Hasenhuttl likely to try and match up Wolves away from home this weekend, it could be an intriguing tactical battle to try and claim the three crucial points on offer.
Team News
Saints will be without exciting forward Moussa Djenepo once again, but Ralph Hasenhuttl stated in his pre-match press conference that he hoped the Malian would be ready for selection at the beginning of November.
Cedric Soares has stepped up his recovery from the injury he suffered whilst warming up against Spurs but remains out of this one.
Important members of Hasenhuttl’s squad played for their respective national sides over the international break and he will hope that no other concerns come about.
Wolves have many of their most vital players available for selection this weekend and will be looking to follow up their superb 2-0 win at Manchester City.
They could be boosted by the return of Diogo Jota, Romain Saiss and Morgan Gibbs-White to the matchday squad on Saturday, whilst part of their thoughts will also be on their Europa League meeting with Slovan Bratislava next Thursday.
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Why Saints will win
Determination to come back from a run of losses should spur Saints on this Saturday, whilst it is vital that they take defensive work done in the international break into the game.
Ralph Hasenhuttl mentioned that his in his pre-match conference and spoke about how his side’s transition back to defensive shape from attack hadn’t been good enough.
We are yet to see a complete performance from Saints during this campaign but they stand a good chance of winning if they get it right this weekend.
Why Wolves will win
The 3-5-2 system that Nuno Espirito Santo has used this season gives his side a lot of width and they often use this to their advantage with great effect.
Matt Doherty and Jonny Otto are crucial to the Wolves setup as wing-backs, but the explosive Adama Traore was also brilliantly effective from out wide against Manchester City last time out.
Many teams find it hard to break down their rigid structure in defence but also struggle when it comes to dealing with their talented players coming the other way.
Predicted Saints line-up
Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn
Defenders: Jan Bednarek, Maya Yoshida, Yannik Vestergaard
Midfielders/Wing-backs: Yan Valery, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ryan Bertrand
Forwards: Nathan Redmond, Danny Ings
Predicted Wolves line-up
Goalkeeper: Rui Patricio
Defenders: Ryan Bennett, Willy Boly, Conor Coady
Midfielders/Wing-backs: Matt Doherty, Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jonny Otto
Forwards: Adama Traore, Raul Jimenez, Diogo Jota
Predicted score: Wolves 1-1 Saints