Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton
Date: 28/09/2019
K/O: 15:00
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Referee: Graham Scott
Tottenham are back at their home ground to take on Southampton this weekend, with the hosts hoping to recover some much-needed form heading into October.
Spurs will be grateful to be back on home turf, where they have only played three games this season – all in the league. Their last match at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium saw them comfortably overcome Crystal Palace by four goals to nil. The squad will look to replicate aspects of this performance and overpower the Saints’ defence.
With the last three matches leaving little to be desired, Pochettino’s men will be hoping to recall some confidence that led them through the Champions League last season. After losing leads to Arsenal, Olympiacos and Leicester before being granted a shock League Cup exit to Colchester on Tuesday night, anything less than a defeat could begin to send the Tottenham camp into meltdown.
In order to beat the Saints, Spurs may need to try and look on the bright side of things. Although performances have been lethargic for large portions of time this season, the occasions where points have been dropped were not easy fixtures, perhaps excluding the home game to Newcastle. Even then, Steve Bruce set out his team well and made it difficult for Spurs to break-through. Ideally, Spurs should be winning three of their four October matches and a victory against Southampton could be the way to kickstart a good run of form.
Although Southampton sit six places behind Spurs in 13th position, only one point separates the two teams. The Saints had much better luck in their midweek Carabao Cup fixture, beating south-coast rivals Portsmouth 4-0 at Fratton Park. However, Southampton’s league form has also been inconsistent after six games and a result against Spurs would hope to bring some stability ahead of a tricky run of October match-ups.
Southampton fans left St. Mary’s rather disappointed in last week’s Friday night fixture against Bournemouth, but the team’s performance certainly warranted a better-looking scoreline than 3-1 to the away team. The Saints peppered the Cherries’ goal in the second half and may have even won the game on another day.
However, the defensive issues could be the undoing of Southampton on Saturday, especially if the Spurs team decide to relay the same attacking superiority that tore Crystal Palace apart in the last match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. On the other hand, if a League Two outfit can defend the likes of Lucas Moura and Dele Alli with relative ease, then Southampton should have a decent chance of doing so as well.
Team News
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs are getting closer to retaining their full complement of players with Dele Alli playing the full ninety minutes against Colchester, and new signing Tanguy Ndombele having seemingly shaken off his injuries as well.
Juan Foyth sat on the bench for that game and maybe granted a start on Saturday if the ex-Saints boss decides to mix up his defence – we may see the Argentinian occupy the right-back position, although Serge Aurier has looked promising as a natural right-back in recent matches.
It is unknown whether Ryan Sessegnon is ready for his first appearance as a Tottenham player, but there seems to be a slight chance that the 19-year-old could be available from the bench. Meanwhile, Giovani Lo Celso is reported to be unavailable for at least another month.
Southampton
As for Southampton, the only injury Hasenhuttl has to worry about is one to Moussa Djenepo. The Malian impressed with a wonderful goal against Sheffield but missed out in the subsequent games against Bournemouth and Southampton. Reports are suggesting that Djenepo’s muscle injury could keep him out for longer than first anticipated.
Predicted Starting XIs
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Rose, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Aurier; Winks, Sissoko; Eriksen, Lamela, Son; Kane
Southampton (4-2-2-2): Gunn; Bertrand, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Cedric; Hojbjerg, Romeu; Boufal, Ward-Prowse; Redmond, Adams
Score Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Southampton
With Spurs’ results all over the place this season, it’s almost impossible to predict Saturday’s result as it could go either way. However, going by the strangely periodic set of outcomes in Tottenham’s matches this season, a win should be coming their way on Saturday – Pochettino will be hoping it’s a comfortable one.
