Southampton will be looking to dodge another embarrassing defeat at the hands of Leicester City when the south coast side travel to the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
The Foxes equaled the record for the biggest ever Premier League victory as they hammered Saints 9-0 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
However, that defeat would also mark the start of an upturn in form for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men. Southampton were struggling in the relegation zone the last time the two teams met.
But a remarkable run of results has seen Saints climb up to twelfth in the table – five points clear of the drop zone and just six points behind fifth-place Manchester United.
Since the 9-0 thrashing, Southampton have won five of their 11 league games – including victories over Chelsea and Tottenham within the last fortnight.
Still, despite Saints’ promising form, Leicester come into this game as firm favorites.
Brendan Rodgers’ side sit second in the Premier League standings after accumulating a whopping 20 points more than Southampton this term.
Leicester may be 13 points behind runaway league leaders Liverpool, but their place in the top four is surely secure with 14 points separating them and Man Utd in fifth.
The Foxes suffered defeats to Man City and Liverpool last month, but bounced back with convincing victories over West Ham and Newcastle.
Then, after beating Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup, Leicester were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa in their EFL Cup semi-final first leg clash on Wednesday.
Great comeback last night and still all to play for! Thanks for your support as always 💙🦊⚽️ @LCFC pic.twitter.com/qmrQHgBqH1— Jamie Vardy (@vardy7) January 9, 2020
Great comeback last night and still all to play for! Thanks for your support as always 💙🦊⚽️ @LCFC pic.twitter.com/qmrQHgBqH1
Two of the Premier League’s leading marksmen will go head-to-head on Saturday as top scorer Jamie Vardy faces in-form Danny Ings.
Leicester’s Vardy leads the goalscoring charts with 17 to his name, while Southampton’s Ings is joint-second with 13.
The Foxes have won four of the last six meeting between the two teams, while the thrashing earlier in the campaign will still be fresh in the memories of both sets of players.
Leicester are set to be without key midfielder Wilfred Ndidi for a number of weeks after it was confirmed that the Nigerian will have to undergo minor surgery on his knee.
As for Southampton, Yan Valery remains a doubt, but Hasenhuttl has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s match.
Given what happened when these two teams met earlier in the season, it’s difficult to envisage anything other than a Leicester win this weekend.
However, Southampton have certainly turned a corner in recent weeks, so there isn’t likely to be as many goals this time around.
Forebet predicts that Leicester will score over 2.5 goals on their way to victory. Southampton will also be hopeful of getting on the scoresheet.