Saturday, 28 September 2019
Time: 17:00
Tottenham hope to end their week of football misery on Saturday when they host Southampton.
Straight from their Carabao Cup elimination on Tuesday in the hands of League Two side Colchester United, Mauricio Pochettino will surely be hoping the football gods offer him a break to end his woeful run.
For starters, Spurs will be boosted by playing at home after three matches on the road where they failed to pick up a win.
Already 10 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, they will have to restore their house in order before the gap grows ever so wider. They endured a nightmare previously by blowing 2-0 nil leads to Arsenal and Olympiakos in the Premier and Champions League respectively before losing late on against Leicester City.
Albeit they made 10 changes in the League Cup exit, they were far from their impressive best after being dispatched on penalties in the shock defeat.
Pochettino will for sure reshuffle the team that faces his former side with regulars expected to resume their places in the starting line-up.
Ryan Sessegnon remains a doubt due to a hamstring problem. Hugo Lloris takes over from Paulo Gazzaniga between the sticks after being rested due to his wife giving birth.
Son Heung-Min is also expected to start alongside wantaway Christian Eriksen with Lucas Moura and Dele Alli likely to follow proceedings from the bench after fluffing their lines against Colchester.
Harry Kane was also not in the trip to Colchester but is expected to be among the goals once again as he comes against a side he likes facing. He has scored 8 in 9 league appearances against them.
10 months into the job, Ralph Hasenhuttl has greatly improved Southampton from the Mauricio Pellegrino and Mark Hughes eras where they missed out on relegation by just a single spot in both seasons.
The Saints were 4-0 winners over Portsmouth in the League Cup with Danny Ings bagging a brace. They however currently remain highly inconsistent after coming off a humiliating 3-1 home loss to Bournemouth, their first ever loss to their south coast opponents last weekend.
Hasenhuttl continues to keep faith in his big summer arrival Che Adams despite failing to score in his six appearances so far.
Highly influential Moussa Djenepo is a doubt for this match following a muscle injury that has forced him to miss the Saints’ last two games. Ings is likely to be reward with a start following his exploits in the cup.
James Ward-Prowse however remains their most potent weapon expected to disrupt Spurs with his specialty on set-pieces. He scored a free-kick winning goal in this fixture last season and has created more chances and had more shots than his teammates.
Head to Head:
Southampton have lost 3 of their last 5 meetings against their guests albeit winning the latest 3-1 at St. Mary’s
Tip:
Expect a high scoring match of over 3.5 goals
Odd:
2.55
Stake:
Large