Southampton will entertain Tottenham Hotspur at the St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday at the back of a hard-fought 2-2 draw away at Watford in their last league outing. The Saints are currently occupying 17th place in the Premier League standings and are in real danger of getting relegated if they don’t start picking up points soon. Mauricio Pellegrino’s men are just a point above the relegation zone and would look to ensure a result against a high-flying Spurs team. The Hampshire outfit has recently shown that they can hold their own versus the league’s best when they earned a credible 0-0 draw away at Old Trafford against Manchester United earlier this season. The Saints boss will be hoping that his side can replicate that same level of performance when the Spurs come marching in on Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men are in fifth place in the league table and well in contention of battling for a top 4 place in the second half of the campaign. They are just three points behind Chelsea and Liverpool so a victory at Southampton could prove crucial in their quest to secure Champions League football next season. The recent history of this fixture makes a grim reading for the Saints fans as they have lost 4 of their previous 5 encounters against the North Londoners. Pellegrino is expected to name an unchanged side and opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation with defender Maya Yoshida a major doubt for the game.
4-2-3-1 Southampton Predicted Lineup To Face Tottenham Hotspur
Defence
Alex McCarthy will once again line up in goal for the Saints and might be protected by a back four of Jack Stephens and Wesley Hoedt in central defence while Cedric Soares operates in a right-back role and Ryan Bertrand takes his place on the left side of the backline.
The Southampton defence has kept two clean sheets in their last four matches in all competitions. Hence, there is enough reason to be optimistic that they will be able to keep the Spurs attack at bay on Sunday.
Midfield
Oriol Romeu and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg will operate as the holding midfielders for the home team and the trio of James Ward-Prowse, Steven Davis and Dusan Tadic is expected to line up ahead of them. All five midfielders need to perform at the top of their game if the Saints are to have any chance of stopping their North London opponents this weekend.
Attack
Shane Long will lead the lines up top for the home team. He scored in their last Premier League home match versus Crystal Palace and will hope to get his name on the scoresheet again when he laces up to face the Spurs defence on Sunday.
