Sunderland players will be keen to repay their fans with a win when they welcome Southampton to the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
These sides last met in October at St Mary’s in an encounter that saw the Saints record their biggest Premier League victory. Southampton’s 8-0 demolition of the Black Cats compelled Sunderland players to refund the fans who made the fruitless journey south.
This time the Sunderland players are fully aware that their supporters will want to be repaid with a win on Saturday as their club recently dropped into the bottom-three.
Dick Advocaat admitted that his side lack pace and presence but the experienced manager is keen to get the best out of what he has rather than waste time complaining about his new team’s deficiencies.
For Southampton, this season has already been their most successful in the Premier League in terms of points collected but the Saints are eager to mark their progress with Europa League qualification. Executive director Les Reed believes that consistently finishing in the top six will help the Saints eventually qualify for the Champions League within five years.
That makes this game a must-win encounter for Ronald Koeman’s charges as they are currently a place below that target in seventh. A win at Sunderland could push the Saints to fifth in the table given that Tottenham host Manchester City while fifth-placed Liverpool have a tricky encounter with QPR.
Sunderland team news
- Emanuele Giaccherini (ankle), Wes Brown, Ricardo Alvarez (both knee) and Steven Fletcher (ankle) are all out injured.
- Sebastian Larsson is back available after serving his suspension.
Southampton team news
- Jay Rodriguez has returned to full training. He could make his Premier League return on the final day of the season when the Saints travel to the Etihad Stadium, where the striker suffered a serious knee injury more than a year ago.
- Victor Wanyama returns from suspension.
- Morgan Schneiderlin is out for the rest of the season with the knee injury that forced him off against Tottenham.
- Emmanuel Mayuka (groin), Fraser Forster (knee) and Filip Djuricic (ankle) remain sidelined.
Sunderland vs Southampton prediction
Sebastian Coates will probably continue partnering John O’Shea at centre-back with Patrick Van Aanholt and Billy Jones as the full-backs in a 4-4-2 formation for Sunderland.
Larsson and Jordi Gomez could be the wide midfielders while Lee Cattermole and Jack Rodwell double-pivot as the central midfielders. Up top, Connor Wickham should continue to partner Jermain Defoe.
Southampton’s Wanyama could partner Toby Alderweireld, who replaced him during his suspension, as the central midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation. In more advanced positions, Steven Davis and James Ward-Prowse could be the wide attacking midfielders flanking Sadio Mane, while Graziano Pelle leads the attack.
The Saints will probably play with more freedom than they did against Tottenham and they should dominate possession but Koeman’s charges will take on a Sunderland team that has lost the fewest games of all the sides in the bottom-nine so this could be another draw for the Black Cats.
Score prediction
Sunderland 1-1 Southampton
