Southampton vs Spurs Preview: Can Saints get up and running?

Southampton host Spurs at St Mary’s on Sunday and will be hoping to put their two defeats from last week behind them.

Saints have opened the 2020/21 season with two disappointing showings against Crystal Palace and Brentford, with a shirt pre-season and lack of match fitness being blamed by manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Spurs have been in the news a lot recently. Their hectic and loaded schedule, the signing of Gareth Bale and an official approach for Danny Ings have all hit the headlines ahead of this match.

Saints have held strong in saying that Ings will be going nowhere though and are believed to be in negotiations with the striker over a new contract on the South Coast.

With this story appearing just before this game though, it will be interesting to see whether Saints’ star man has a deciding say in this fixture.

Why Southampton will win

Saints will take a while yet to get fully up to speed and return to the form they were showing at the back end of 2019/20 but they are presented with a potentially huge opportunity here.

Spurs played in the Europa League on Thursday and will be rotating players ahead of games on Tuesday and Thursday next week too. Saints should be the fresher side – especially considering Spurs travelled to and from Bulgaria for their European fixture.

Starting with high intensity and giving their opponents no time to settle will see Saints as the favourites to gain a crucial first three points of the campaign.

More from Saints Marching

• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

Why Spurs will win

To deal with the number of games they are facing, Spurs will have to channel some of Jose Mourinho’s determination.

A number of their most important players started and finished their Europa League tie at Lokomotiv Plovdiv just two days ago and changes will surely be made ahead of their meeting with Saints – there is, of course, more than enough quality in their ranks to still cause problems for the hosts.

The likes of Lucas Moura, Harry Winks and Erik Lamela are likely to start and will want to prove their worth by claiming the win at St Mary’s.

Team News

Saints could welcome Stuart Armstrong and Mohammed Salisu back into their matchday squad for Sunday’s fixture, although it may be too early for either player to start just yet.

Nathan Redmond will miss this game after picking up an ankle injury in the Carabao Cup loss to Brentford in midweek.

Spurs will surely make full use of their squad in the coming days and weeks as they face five games in the next 14 days.

Serge Aurier faces a late fitness test and Japhet Tanganga remains out but strong options remain from the players who did not play in Bulgaria on Thursday.

Previous meetings

Spurs 3-2 Saints, FA Cup Fourth-Round replay –  Wednesday 5th February 2020

Saints 1-1 Spurs, FA Cup Fourth-Round – Saturday 25th January 2020

Saints 1-0 Spurs, Premier League – Wednesday 1st January 2020

Spurs 2-1 Saints, Premier League – Saturday 28th September 2019

Saints 2-1 Spurs, Premier League – Saturday 9th March 2019

Predicted line-ups

Saints

Alex McCarthy, Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Jack Stephens, Ryan Bertrand, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Moussa Djenepo, Will Smallbone, Danny Ings, Che Adams

Spurs

Hugo Lloris, Matt Doherty, Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez, Ben Davies, Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso, Steven Bergwijn, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura

Predicted score

Saints 2-0 Spurs