Southampton and Crystal Palace both head into their clash at St. Mary’s on Saturday on the back of impressive wins. Saints beat Chelsea to move three points clear of the relegation zone, while Crystal Palace scored a last-minute winner to overcome West Ham.
After a dismal start to the 2019/20 campaign, Saints have now lost just two of their last seven league games – winning four in that time.
Southampton have secured vital wins over three of their relegation rivals in recent weeks. Victories against fellow strugglers Watford, Norwich and Aston Villa have lifted Saints out of the bottom three.
On Boxing Day, Michael Obafemi and Nathan Redmond scored as Southampton recorded a famous victory at Stamford Bridge.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are up to fourteenth in the table following an excellent run of results and they can move to within two points of ninth-place Palace with a win on Saturday.
The Eagles have lost just one of their last six league games. Roy Hodgson’s side boast one of the best defensive records in the division, but they have also struggled to score goals this season.
However, Palace managed to score twice in their last game, and better still, they came from behind to beat London rivals West Ham.
Robert Snodgrass put the Hammers ahead, but Cheikhou Kouyate netted against his former club to level the score.
Jordan Ayew then completed the comeback on 90 minutes with a stunning solo effort. After beating a number of West Ham players with some dazzling skill, the Ghanaian chipped the ball over Roberto to seal the win for his side.
This was Ayew’s first goal in nine league games, but his fifth in the top-flight this term. Palace will need their star striker to continue to chip in with goals.
Southampton have no fresh injury worries, but Yan Valery and Moussa Djenepo won’t feature this weekend. Shane Long could make a return following a knee injury.
Palace have a number of long-term absentees, so we could see Hodgson name the same starting eleven that did so well against West Ham.
Looking at the goal scoring records of the two teams, this fixture isn’t likely to produce too many goals.
It’s also worth pointing out that Southampton have picked up the fewest home points of all the teams in the Premier League this season.
Forebet predicts that Crystal Palace will edge the victory with over 1.5 goals being scored.