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Southampton: Team news and predicted Saints line-up to host Leicester

By Marc Walker

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: (L-R) Ryan Bertrand, Jack Stephens and Danny Ings of Southampton show their disappointment during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford on February 02, 2021 in Manchester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: (L-R) Ryan Bertrand, Jack Stephens and Danny Ings of Southampton show their disappointment during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford on February 02, 2021 in Manchester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
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Southampton will be looking to get back to consistent form and put previous nightmares behind them when they host Leicester City on Friday evening.

Their last top-flight game against Spurs saw the bursts of good and bad in one 90 minute showing and strong first-half work was undone by a drop off in intensity after half-time.

References to Leicester’s 9-0 win over Saints will be numerous ahead of this upcoming match given that this is the first meeting between the sides since that famous night.

Whilst the Foxes look set for Champions League football and made their way past Saints in the FA Cup recently, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side will be looking to impose their own style on Brendan Rodgers’ men after two losses to them so far this campaign.

Ralph Hasenhuettl, Manager of Southampton (L) (Photo by Neil Hall – Pool/Getty Images)
Ralph Hasenhuettl, Manager of Southampton (L) (Photo by Neil Hall – Pool/Getty Images) /

Southampton receive double injury blow

In his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon, Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed that both Danny Ings and Ryan Bertrand will miss this game and could be unavailable for a number of weeks.

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Ings picked up a thigh injury against Spurs after an awkward landing whilst adjusting for a shot and Bertrand was ruled out with a calf injury before the match. Both players’ absences will be felt but opportunities will be given to others to fill in and prove their worth.

Michael Obafemi is set to be available for selection after returning to training, and Oriol Romeu is back training on grass individually.

Mohammed Salisu was actually the stand-out performer in a Saints shirt as he played in the vacant left-back role at White Hart Lane, but Ings’ goalscoring abilities will always be hard to replace.

Via lcfc.com, Leicester are nursing three injuries at the moment with Harvey Barnes and James Justin likely to miss the rest of this season.

Wes Morgan’s back problem could clear up for him to play a part before the final games but he is also unavailable this week.

Predicted Saints line-up

Fraser Forster; Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Mohammed Salisu; James Ward-Prowse, Stuart Armstrong; Nathan Tella, Moussa Djenepo; Nathan Redmond, Che Adams

Hasenhuttl will have to replace Danny Ings but could otherwise name a similar line-up to the one that made a positive impression in the first-half versus Spurs.

Fraser Forster could come back in and Nathan Redmond may come back into his striker role. A decision will have to be made on whether to pair Ward-Prowse with Armstrong or Diallo, although Armstrong’s workrate was important last time out.

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