Southampton will host Italian giants Inter Milan at St. Mary’s this Thursday night in the fourth round game of the Europa League group stage. The two sides met each other at San Siro last month where Southampton lost 1-0 despite being the better of the two sides for most parts of the game. The Group K still remains an open affair as all four sides have a decent chance going through to the knockout stages.
Leaders Sparta Prague have six points from two games while second-placed Southampton and third-placed Hapoel Be’er Sheva both have four points. Inter are surprisingly sitting bottom with three points.
The Nerazzurri are struggling this season both in Serie A and in the Europa League and their new boss Frank de Boer is under enormous pressure. Southampton have been in decent form this season but lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the weekend and Puel will be demanding a strong comeback from his side.
Puel has so far fielded a weakened XI in the Europa League but with a game against struggling Hull City in the weekend, we can expect the French manager to opt for a stronger starting XI. Here is the predicted Southampton lineup against Inter Milan.
Defence
Fraser Forster will keep his place under the bar. With Cedric Soares and Jeremy Pied still out injured, Cuco Martina will get to have an extended run at right-back. Southampton were defensively poor against Chelsea in the weekend but Puel is expected to keep his faith in the centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Jose Fonte. Ryan Bertrand is likely to keep his place at left-back.
Midfield
Oriol Romeu has been almost ever-present for the Saints this season at the base of midfield. The Spaniard possesses an excellent ability to screen his back four and lay off passes forward to his teammates. The 25-year-old will keep his place in defensive midfield.
James Ward-Prowse has been impressive for the South Coast club in the Europa League so far this season and should keep his place in a three-man midfield. Steven Davis is an undisputed starter at and should complete the midfield trio.
Attack
Club record signing Sofiane Boufal should be in line for a start on the left flank. The Moroccan international will be pumped up for a stellar display to justify his price-tag. He hasn’t had a good start owing to an injury, but now has the chance to show everyone why he was so highly rated in Ligue 1.
Nathan Redmond should start on the right flank. Charlie Austin will definitely start up front as the number nine.
