Southampton will have to put behind their disheartening defeat in the EFL Cup final fast if they are to end the season in a decent position. It is true that their only shot at a silverware is now gone, but the Saints have shown the quality of performance they are capable of and Claude Puel’s primary job for the rest of the season would to keep the squad motivated to perform at a similar level.
Southampton visit the Vicarage road this weekend to face a Watford side, who have been impressive at home lately. After the recent reinforcements that Walter Mazzarri brought in the winter transfer window, the Hornets haven’t lost at home for over a month, which makes Southampton’s job all the more challenging.
Southampton sit 13th in the league table having collected 30 points from 25 games with a game in hand. With Watford being the immediate team above them, a win or draw will surely take them above Mazzarri’s side. Southampton have collected 13 points from 12 away games, which tilts the game in their favour to some extent.
Strongest Southampton XI vs Watford
Defence
Fraser Forster will start under the bar. The 28-year-old didn’t have the best of games against Manchester United last weekend as they put the ball past him three times. He will hope for a better game this time.
Ryan Bertrand is expected to continue to take his place on the left defensive flank. The former Chelsea man was quite impressive against United in the last game and a similar display this time could easily see Southampton through against Watford. The right defensive flank is expected to be taken by Cedric Soares. The Portuguese international had another good game last week proving exactly why clubs like Barcelona and Juventus are after him.
We expect Puel to give a chance to Martin Caceres in central defence. The Uruguayan international definitely needs game time to get back into the pace of the game. And Watford might be the perfect opposition to do that. Maya Yoshida was fantastic from the central role as Southampton didn’t look as if they were missing Virgil van Dijk.
Midfield
Although Puel is an advocate of squad rotation, we expect the French manager to stick to the super-effective midfield that started last game. Oriol Romeu should take his position in the defensive midfield with James Ward-Prowse and Steven Davis taking the advanced role as the playmakers.
Attack
Dusan Tadic is expected to take the left wing while Nathan Redmond is likely to be stationed on the right wing. Redmond was a constant threat to the United defence throughout the game. The attack will be spearheaded by Manolo Gabbiadini. The Italian has been on fire since arriving and there is no way Puel is going to change him.
