Former Southampton coach Maurico Pochettino heads back to his old club with Spurs on Saturday for the first of the matches on the English Premier League weekend coupon.
Southampton
Current League Position 7th (as of 24th April)
Last Six League Results W3 D1 L2
Home Record P17 W10 D3 L4 GS 29 GC 10
Southampton have the best overall defensive record in the Premier League with just 24 goals conceded, two less than league leaders Chelsea. They don’t score as many goals as the other teams in the top seven but when you keep 11 clean sheets in 17 home games, it’s going to take a very good side to beat you. The Saints can usually be relied upon to make life difficult for the top teams at St.Mary’s Stadium and although Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool all won here earlier in the season, Arsenal were beaten 2-0 and Chelsea had to work hard to come away with a 1-1 draw. Defeats away from home at Stoke and Everton in recent weeks have seen Southampton lose ground on the top four teams but they have exceeded expectations all season and qualifying for European football next season, quite possibly the Europa League, is still a realistic target.
Spurs
Current League Position 6th (as of 25th April)
Last Six League Results W3 D1 L2
Away Record P16 W8 D3 L5 GS 24 GC 24
With eight wins in 16 Premier League away fixtures, Spurs have a decent enough away record but when visiting the five teams currently above them in the standings, they have only earned one point. That came in a 1-1 draw at Arsenal early in the season and Spurs have lost away from home to all their other main rivals. Their away fixtures are usually entertaining as Spurs have found the net in 13 of their 16 away days and only failed to score themselves three times on their travels. A 3-1 win at Newcastle last weekend included another goal for Harry Kane who has now scored 30 in all competitions this season. Spurs are just one point better off than Southampton in the standings and if they were to qualify for the Champions League next season, they would have to bridge a gap of seven points to the current fourth placed team, Manchester City.
Overall Head to Head Record
Southampton Wins 23
Draws 17
Spurs Wins 35
Last time they met
05/10/14 EPL Spurs 1-0 Southampton
Spurs Scorer: Eriksen (40)
Half time: 1-0
Other Recent Head to Heads Results
23/03/14 EPL Spurs 3-2 Southampton
22/12/13 EPL Southampton 2-3 Spurs
04/05/13 EPL Spurs 1-0 Southampton
28/10/12 EPL Southampton 1-2 Spurs
Match Result Betting
Southampton 2.10
Draw 3.30
Spurs 3.40
*Odds are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Summary:
The teams are side by side in the standings and the first meeting was settled by a single goal. Whilst this should again be close, we might see a bit more goal action given a win is still vital to both teams in terms of their chances of qualifying for European football next season. With that in mind, we think both sides will find the net this time around.
Pick: Both teams to score? (yes) @1.75