Tottenham vs Southampton Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
Tottenham:
Lloris; Tanganga, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Winks; Bale, Lo Celso, Son; Vinicius
Southampton:
Forster; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Minamino, Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong; Ings, Adams
Tottenham host Southampton in North London in Wednesday's Premier League clash. This is the first match for the Spurs since Jose Mourinho's departure. The Special One was sacked after just 17 months in charge. He replaced Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019 and guided the club to 6th in the Premier League last season. Tottenham fans were not satisfied with the results of their team who currently occupy the seventh place, having picked up two points from their past three matches in the Premier League. To be worse, the Spurs were knocked out of the Europa League after losing 3:0 to the Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb. However, Mourinho secured the League Cup final with Manchester City on 25 April. This is the only chance for silverware this season for Tottenham, but the club officials were not impressed. Mourinho is between the most successful European coaches. He won number of trophies with Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto. Mourinho's last match in charge was the draw at Everton on Friday. Former midfielder Ryan Mason, who has been working with the club's youth categories, will lead the team for the rest of the season. According to me, his inexperience could be a big problem. In addition, the best scorer Harry Kane is out with ankle problem. His absence is a big handicap, he is simply irreplaceable.
Southampton are on the 14th place with 36 points. It is clear this season wasn't good for them. They were excellent in the first part of the season, even spent some time on the first place, but the results in 2021 are awful. The Saints have lost 11 of their last 14 matches in the Premier League. In that series Hasenhuttl's men beat only two teams, the bottom-placed Sheffield United and Burnley, while shared the points with Chelsea. Southampton lost to Leicester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Leeds United, Everton, Manchester City, Brighton and West Bromwich. Their tally of 10 points from 15 matches since the turn of the year is the fewest out of all 20 Premier League clubs. The away form is particularly poor, they have conceded 8 goals on the last two away league matches. On Sunday they were eliminated from the FA Cup. Southampton suffered a narrow 1:0 defeat to Leicester City in front of 4,000 fans at Wembley and finished the fans' hopes of cup trophy. To be worse, Hasenhuttl has some injury issues ahead of the match. Midfielder Oriol Romeu will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Takumi Minamino, who was ineligible for the FA Cup match against Leicester, should return to the starting eleven here. Will Smallbone and Michael Obafemi remain out of contention too. James Ward-Prowse, Danny Ings and Theo Walcott were all fit to start against Burnley last weekend, so Hasenhuttl has some "sweet issues" about the starting lineup.
Tottenham vs Southampton Prediction:
I don't expect an efficient match in North London. There are three reasons for my pick. First is connect with Tottenham. New boss Ryan Mason will like to impress on his debut. He will try to win the match, but most of all, he will try not to lose. The second reason is again connect with the hosts. They will play without the best scorer Harry Kane due to injury. And finally, the last reason is connect with the guests. Southampton are in poor form at the moment. Not only the lost the previous two matches, but failed to score a single goal against West Bromwich and Leicester City.
Tottenham vs Southampton Pick: Both teams to score - No @ 2.20 with
Pinnacle