Huddersfield Town are travelling to St. Mary’s Stadium to face Southampton for their Premier League fixture this weekend. The Terriers are high on spirits after a surprise 1-4 win against Watford last week. David Wagner’s men thrashed the Hornets with an empowering display right from the start and climbed to the 11th spot of Premier League table 3 points ahead of their opponents for this fixture.
The Saints faced a tough run of games and are yet to register a win in the month of December. The 1-0 loss hardly depicts the dominance of Chelsea in their previous fixture, with Mauricio Pellegrino’s men left to fend off attack after attack throughout the match. With Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester United lined up as their next opponents the Argentinian will be adamant on getting the win against Huddersfield and level off with them in the points table.
With a few injury concerns, Pellegrino will have to make minor changes to the side ahead of this fixture.
He is expected to field his team in the 4-2-3-1 lineup.
Defence
Fraser Forster will look to take up his usual spot in front of goal and should not expect any slack from the opposition.
Jack Stephens is predicted to start ahead of Cedric Soares in the right back position with the Portuguese sidelined after picking up a knock in the last fixture. He declared on social media he might not return before the new year. On the left, Ryan Bertrand’s appearance is also uncertain against his former employers. Matt Targett is expected to start ahead of the Englishman with Virgil van Dijk returning to the starting lineup after missing the last fixture.
Wesley Hoedt might be paired up with the Dutchman in the centre-back position.
Midfield
Mario Lemina is expected to start alongside Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in the defensive midfield roles. Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse probably will get their deserved rest on the bench for this fixture. They might make a substitute appearance in the second half to give the team an attacking boost.
Sofiane Boufal can expect to get the nod for this match from the left wing position. Dusan Tadic might appear from the right with Steven Davies taking up the attacking midfield position behind the lone striker.
Attack
Charlie Austin has scored 5 goals in the League table so far and has been quite sharp in the attacking lineup. However, he failed to make an impact against Leicester City and was dropped in their previous fixture. He will be eager to return to the starting lineup and increase his goal tally.
