Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Premier League clash between Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Southampton may be more or less consigned to relegation from the Premier League, but they can do their bit to try to drag Wolverhampton Wanderers down with them in Saturday’s encounter at St Mary’s.
Ivan Juric‘s men are still yet to break the 10-point barrier following their 3-1 loss to Liverpool last weekend, while the visitors held the blue half of Merseyside – Everton – to a 1-1 draw in gameweek 28.
Match preview
The shock of almighty shocks was momentarily on the cards at Anfield last weekend, where in the top vs. bottom battle between rampant leaders Liverpool and doomed Southampton, Saints midfielder Will Smallbone broke the deadlock thanks to a comedy of errors from the Reds.
Juric’s men were arguably full value for their half-time advantage after Arne Slot‘s side struggled to get going in the opening exchanges, but the champions-elect inevitably turned the tide in the second period, where a Darwin Nunez equaliser preceded a Mohamed Salah brace from the spot.
As spirited as Southampton’s efforts were at Anfield, spirit does not put points on the board for the South Coast side, who are now 14 points adrift of safety at the foot of the Premier League standings and remain on course for the worst season in competition history.
If the Saints cannot pick up one more win or draw at least two more games between now and the end of the season, they will break Derby County’s unwanted lowest points total of 11 from the 2007-08 season, and the less said about their St Mary’s exploits the better too.
Indeed, Juric’s side have been beaten in each of their last eight Premier League home fixtures and could now become just the fourth side in English top-flight history to lose nine in a row; Wolves are coincidentally one of the three teams to have already suffered that fate in 2011-12.
© Iconsport
It will come as no surprise to learn that the Old Gold finished bottom of the rankings that season, and 13 years later, the West Midlands outfit remain in danger of dropping down to the second tier after only being able to claim a share of the spoils with Everton last weekend.
A Jack Harrison opener just after the half-hour mark preceded a quick response from Marshall Munetsi, whose first Premier League goal ended Wolves’ two-game losing sequence in all tournaments following their reverse to Fulham and gut-wrenching FA Cup exit to Bournemouth.
A first draw of the calendar year leaves Vitor Pereira‘s men safe in 17th place for the time being, although Ipswich Town and Leicester City are only six points worse off, meaning that a couple more dissatisfactory results for Wolves could plunge them below the dreaded dotted line.
However, with or without the mercurial Matheus Cunha in attack, the visitors can normally be backed to make nets bulge, as they have now scored at least once in each of their last seven games across all tournaments and nine of their last 10 away from home.
When former managers Russell Martin and Gary O’Neil were in the dugouts, Wolves ran out 2-0 victors over Southampton in November to make it six straight Premier League wins over the Saints, their longest triumphant run over a single team in the competition.
Southampton Premier League form:
Southampton form (all competitions):
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:
Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):
Team News
Southampton centre-back Jan Bednarek‘s luck is not in whatsoever right now, as the Pole recovered from a fatigue-related issue to line up at Anfield but was then brought off after only 19 minutes due to a head injury.
Bednarek will sit this one out due to concussion protocol, meaning that Armel Bella-Kotchap – who was praised by his manager for his display at Anfield – is now likely to step in.
James Bree (thigh), Ryan Fraser (calf), Ross Stewart (fitness) and Juan Larios (fitness) are still out of contention, and Smallbone has also been ruled out of this clash due to an unspecified concern.
On Wolves’ side, Pereira was forced to bring goalscorer Munetsi off at half time against Everton after the midfielder “felt something”, although his issue is seemingly not serious as he has been called up to the Zimbabwe squad for this month’s international fixtures.
Hwang Hee-chan, Goncalo Guedes, Pablo Sarabia and Rodrigo Gomes are all alternative options, but Munetsi is expected to be OK to start on Saturday, where Cunha will serve the second of his three-game ban.
As ever, long-term knee victims Sasa Kalajdzic, Leon Chiwone, Yerson Mosquera and Enso Gonzalez are still absent for Saturday’s visitors.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bella-Kotchap, Manning; Ugochukwu, Downes; Dibling, Fernandes, Sulemana; Onuachu
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:Sa; Doherty, Toti, Agbadou; Semedo, Andre, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Munetsi, Bellegarde; Larsen
We say: Southampton 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
No team in the Premier League have conceded from more shots than Wolves this season – 15.3% – although Southampton’s measly 7.7% conversion rate is also the worst in the division.
The Saints have also lost six top-flight games in which they have broken the deadlock this season, so even if Juric’s team can strike first, even a Cunha-less Wolves should have enough firepower about them to turn the tide and enhance their survival chances at the expense of their hosts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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