Southampton vs. Tottenham: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur will look to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they face off at St. Mary's.
Both are yet to win in the Premier League in December and ideally would like to head into the crux of the Christmas and New Year's period with a welcome confidence boost.
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Southampton boss Ronald Koeman believes the cure to his side's current malaise is a refocusing of their efforts in front of goal.
"That’s I think one of the reasons why in the last two games we have been struggling," he told his club's official website, revealing his players have been doing more work on their finishing in training.
"We have more attention to that part of attacking, but it’s also the last pass—we need more quality and to create. We have to improve."
Returning to the south coast for the second time this weekend is Koeman's predecessor Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentinian has been keen to emphasise perspective after Tottenham's disappointing 2-1 loss to Newcastle United last week.
"We are fifth in the Premier League, we have a lot of games ahead and I think the important thing is to always be positive and try to improve," Pochettino said to Spurs' official website. "After 14 games unbeaten, we lost one game and then start to worry, about what?"
Keen though he is to reiterate the abundance of football still to be played this season, Pochettino will know his currently fifth-place side could quickly lose track of the top four if they do not put a winning run together. With Saints only five points behind them in 12th, any complacency from the capital club could see them caught from behind.
Date: Saturday, December 19
Time: 3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET
Venue: St. Mary's, Southampton
TV Info: No live UK broadcast but extended highlights from 10 p.m. on Sky Sports 1/Premier League Extra Time (U.S. only)
Live Stream: No live UK stream/NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S. only)
Form Lines
| Southampton | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Premier League, December 12: Crystal Palace (A)—Loss: 1-0 | Premier League, December 13: Newcastle United (H)—Loss: 1-2 |
| Premier League, December 5: Aston Villa (H)—Draw: 1-1 | Europa League, December 10: Monaco (H)—Win: 4-1 |
| Capita One Cup, December 2: Liverpool (H)—Loss: 1-6 | Premier League, December 5: West Bromwich Albion (A)—Draw: 1-1 |
| Premier League, November 28: Manchester City (A)—Loss: 3-1 | Premier League, November 29: Chelsea (H)—Draw: 0-0 |
| Premier League, November 21: Stoke City (H)—Loss: 0-1 | Europa League, November 26: Qarabag (A)—Win: 0-1 |
Team News
With Maarten Stekelenburg still out, Koeman has confirmed already that Paulo Gazzaniga will start again in goal for Southampton. Striker Graziano Pelle is fully fit again.
Subject to him coming through Friday's training session without a hitch, Tottenham could have Mousa Dembele available for selection again. The Belgian's fellow midfielder Ryan Mason remains out, as does Clinton Njie.
"Clinton picked up a ligament injury in his knee and maybe we miss him for a while," Pochettino revealed, per Spurs' official website.
Predicted Lineups
Even were Stekelenburg available, Gazzaniga's performance against Crystal Palace last weekend may have earned him another start. The goalkeeper's fine reactions stopped the dominant Eagles inflicting an embarrassing scoreline.
Koeman's decision to field a five-man defence at Selhurst Park did not work. The home side's wide men—both full-backs and wingers—frequently got in behind or isolated the nominal Saints wing-backs Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares.
Rather than outnumber Palace's attack, the three centre-backs looked confused as to where they should be positioned. The resulting ball-watching-induced neglect was most notably seen when a criminally unmarked Yohan Cabaye wandered in to tuck home the first-half winner.
With this in mind, Koeman may opt to return to a more compact and simply assigned back four, with Bertrand and Soares either side of captain Jose Fonte and Virgil Van Dijk with Maya Yoshida the one likely to miss out.
Up top, the possible return of Pelle to the starting lineup would see a refashioning of Southampton's midfield and attacking positions. The Italian's presence facilitates Steven Davis moving back into a deeper role with Dusan Tadic probably returning to join Sadio Mane in flanking their striker.
With Davis as the creative head of essentially a midfield triangle, Victor Wanyama is just about nailed on to provide the main cover. After scoring Southampton's equaliser against Aston Villa the previous week, Oriol Romeu did not make the most of his start at Palace. Koeman may hand him another shot here to prove his worth.
Tottenham's back five is again likely to remain unchanged in the Premier League.
Comparatively lax and leaky showings in the last two games against West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United will serve notice none of them can afford to rest on their laurels, though. Among their number is Toby Alderweireld, making his returning to Southampton after spending 2014-15 on loan there.
If declared fit, Dembele will almost certainly return to central midfield to partner Eric Dier. The former's dynamism and composure on the ball was missed against Newcastle as Spurs failed to press home their first-half advantage. A strong showing on the south coast will reiterate his recently re-established importance to this team.
Tom Carroll performed tidily enough against the Magpies but was not so influential that he can expect to keep his place. If Dembele is back, Dele Alli will be kept on in central attacking midfield, though who Pochettino selects either side of him (and behind forward Harry Kane) is less certain.
Spurs' play in these areas veered between sublime and stunted at White Hart Lane last time out. The Argentinian has numerous options to call on here in attempting to produce a more satisfyingly cohesive effort
Heung Min-Son has been far more effective in a starting berth than coming off the bench and may be granted the opportunity to try invigorate Spurs from the off. The rarely dropped Christian Eriksen seems the likely other starter here, but it would not be entirely surprising if Nacer Chadli or Erik Lamela was called in ahead of the recently hit-and-miss Dane.
Southampton Player to Watch: Graziano Pelle
Like last season, Pelle has not yet found the consistent scoring form he or Southampton would like. Nine goals (seven in the Premier League) make him his side's top scorer, though, and they were definitely poorer for his absence from the start against Crystal Palace.
Shane Long did not occupy the Eagles' defence in quite the same way the 6'4" forward is capable of doing.
While Southampton's approach play created some opportunities—notably for an excellent Davis header superbly tipped to safety by Wayne Hennessey—they lacked someone truly capable of making the opposition back line uncomfortable. By the time Pelle did arrive, Palace were well in control.
Pelle's overall production levels leave something to be desired, but with Long even less clinical, he remains Southampton's best forward option. With Koeman demanding more of his team in this area, he could do with the Italy international leading by example against Spurs.
Tottenham Hotspur Player to Watch: Christian Eriksen
"It was two different games—the first half was fantastic but the second half was not so good in how we need to play."
Pochettino's assessment of Tottenham's performance against Newcastle, per their official website, could also be applied to Eriksen.
Eager and assertive in the first-half, the attacking midfielder took the game to the visitors. Cutting in intelligently from his left-wing station (often after good pressing work helping win the ball), his combination play and aggressive shooting put the Magpies in positions they did not want to be. It was his corner that set up Dier's headed opener.
After the interval, Eriksen toiled less successfully, struggling to get involved let alone influence proceedings.
The well-earned goodwill of two seasons as Tottenham's chief playmaker has kept the 23-year-old as a regular starter in Pochettino's team up until now. But with the likes of Lamela and Son making compelling cases for a greater say in the creative direction of the group, Eriksen could do with delivering a more substantial reminder of the qualities of his own output.
Key Battle: Full-Back Attack
A lot is asked of Southampton and Tottenham's full-backs.
They are required to provide attacking width while still getting back to protect their flanks directly and from cross-field assaults. With mixed assistance from attack-focused wide men in front of them, it can make for some tough shifts in their peripheral-yet-pivotal positions.
Both pairs—Bertrand and Soares for Southampton, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker for Tottenham—had particularly tough games last time out. The former were given a torrid time by the bamboozling skill and speed of Palace's Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha, the latter worked just as hard by the more straightforward but just as relentless Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum.
With both Saints and Spurs both offering their own threats on the wings further forward, their full-back duos could have a big say in Saturday's meeting, both in how they deal with the dangers of men like Mane and Eriksen and also in what they offer teaming up with these attackers in their own forays forward.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Southampton win: 7-4
Tottenham win: 9-5
Draw: 23-10
