Southampton will travel to the West Midlands to take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Thursday night looking to cause an upset. The Saints are in dire need of some positive results in the coming weeks if they are to have any chance of avoiding relegation to the English Championship at the end of this campaign. Mark Hughes will hope that his players can bounce back against a wounded Leicester team, who have lost their last two fixtures in the league.
The West Midlands outfit are currently looking to finish the season strong as they attempt to close the gap to 7th placed Burnley going into the final stretch of the season. The recent history of this fixture makes a grim reading for Southampton fans as they have only seen their team win once in their past five meetings with the Foxes. Mark Hughes is expected to stick with his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation and could hand Charlie Austin a rare start up top for the South-coast club.
3-4-2-1 Southampton Predicted Lineup To Face Leicester City
Defence
Alex McCarthy is set to start in the Saints goal and might be shielded by a back three of Jan Bednarek, Maya Yoshida and Wesley Hoedt. Mark Hughes has seen his Southampton defence concede 6 goals in their past two matches in the league and will be hoping that his back three can keep it tight in defence against a dangerous Leicester City team.
Midfield
Oriol Romeu might continue his midfield partnership with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg at the centre of the park. Ryan Bertrand will resume his duties on the left while Cedric Soares operates on the right flank.
Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse are set to play just ahead of the midfield four to provide support to their forward. Both players have enjoyed a rich vein of form recently and will look to get their names on the scoresheet on Thursday night.
Attack
Charlie Austin could get the nod to lead the lines for the away team so that he can cause some problems in the opposition penalty box. The 28-year-old striker has made 19 appearances for the Saints this season, scoring 7 goals in the league. It remains to be seen whether he can find his goalscoring touch against the Foxes on Thursday night.
Shane Long may have to settle for a place on the bench and could be called upon if required during the course of the match.
