On Sunday, at 12:00, Southampton and Tottenham meet in the second round of the Premier League. On St. Mary’s will not be able to play the injured Armstrong and Redmond, at the hosts, respectively Tanganga and Aurier, at the guests. Otherwise, the offensive stars in the two camps are fit.
It’s interesting that Tottenham is always the favorite at Southampton, but they always stumble here! Specifically, Spurs left without a victory in the previous three visits on St. Mary’s, with two defeats (1-2, 0-1) and a draw (1-1) in the record. This aspect is somewhat surprising, considering that the “saints” had a very weak balance on their own field, in the previous season. Statistically speaking, it is a duel with good show potential, because both teams have scored in 11 of the last 12 direct duels, and the bet on “3+” has always been a winner.
In the first leg, Southampton lost at Crystal Palace 0-1, although they dominated the game at Selhurst Park. Palace defended very well and the white-and-reds went home with a swollen lip, which made the Austrian manager Ralf Hasenhuttl exclaim: “We will have big problems again (no with relegation) if we fail to achieve goal dominance! “. Tottenham started maybe worse: 0-1 at home to Everton, with a very pale performance from Jose Mourinho’s students.
In the middle of the week, Southampton suffered another disappointment, 0-2 in the English League Cup, against Brentford, the second league team. Tottenham, on the other hand, struggled bitterly in Bulgaria, on the field of Lokomotiv Plovdiv, in the 2nd preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League. The English were led 1-0, but Lokomotiv remained in double numerical inferiority and Spurs turned the score around in the end (2-1), managing to qualify further. Unsurprisingly, Tottenham used the starting line-up and made their lives difficult due to their lack of lucidity in attack.
The last direct duel ended 3-2 for Tottenham, at home, and the team that played away did not win 9 meetings! But history also shows that Southampton has only one victory in the previous 9 home matches, in a Premier League season, being without a goal scored in 3 of the last 6 games of this kind. Last season, the “saints” lost 10 home games and are looking to improve their balance sheet, but the program is not easy for Hasenhuttl’s team.
The most important attacker for Tottenham will be Heung-Min Son, who has scored 7 times in 11 games against Southampton! From the hosts we keep an eye on Danny Ings, who also scored against Spurs. The two players, along with Kane, are favorites to score again.
-They have scored both teams in 11 of the last 12 direct matches;
-Tottenham have 3 wins in the last 6 direct duels with Southampton;
-The “3+ goals” bet has been won in 7 of the last 10 direct matches;
-At least three goals have been scored in 4 of Spurs’ last 5 official matches;
Southampton: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand; Smallbone, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Redmond; Adams, Ings.
Coach: Ralf Hasenhuttl
Tottenham: Lloris; Doherty, Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Sissoko, Hojbjerg, Lo Celso, Moura, Kane, Son.
Coach: Jose Mourinho
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,71
