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Southampton: Path to a top ten league finish starts now

By Ryan Borowski

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 05: Danny Ings of Southampton celebrates with teammates Shane Long and Ryan Bertrand after scoring his team's second goal during the FA Cup Fourth Round Replay match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 05, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 05: Danny Ings of Southampton celebrates with teammates Shane Long and Ryan Bertrand after scoring his team's second goal during the FA Cup Fourth Round Replay match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 05, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Southampton have had their mini-winter break and now come back to a more favorable stretch of matches where they could pick up a lot of points.

A few months ago, the possibility of a top half finish seemed out of the question for Saints and it looked like another relegation scrap was in the cards for the club. Then all of a sudden the team started stringing wins together and climbing the table and away from the relegation zone during a very tough stretch of matches.

This team looks like a completely different side then when the season started and now teams no longer want to face Southampton as they know it is no easy task.

Now, Southampton have a stretch of 5 matches that they will look at and believe there is a legitimate chance at taking all 15 points. If they manage to win a majority of these matches they may even find themselves in potential Europa League spot. With that said, let us take a look at each of the matches and breakdown how the saints can win each.

BURNLEY, ENGLAND – AUGUST 10: Johann Berg Gudmundsson of Burnley scores his team’s third goal during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and  at Turf Moor on August 10, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
BURNLEY, ENGLAND – AUGUST 10: Johann Berg Gudmundsson of Burnley scores his team’s third goal during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and  at Turf Moor on August 10, 2019 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) /

15 February 2020

Southampton vs Burnley

The Saints will finally get a shot at redemption for the first match of the season where they lost to Burnley 3-0 at the Turf Moor. The two sides are currently level on points and only separated by goal differential.

Like most Burnley matches this will likely be a low scoring, cagey affair where it may only take one goal to win it. I do not see either side scoring 3 goals in this one.

If Southampton want to win this match they are going to need to find a way to break down Burnley’s stout defense. The Saints have slowly been getting better at breaking down low-blocks, thanks in part to the work rates of both Shane Long and Danny Ings who willingness to run causes issues for opponents back lines.

Each side may only get one or two decent looks on net and whoever can be more clinical with the finishing will be the side that is victorious.

Predicted Score

Southampton 2-0 Burnley

Goal scorers: Danny Ings x 2

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