Two teams fighting at opposite ends of the Championship table will meet on Saturday, as Rotherham United welcome Southampton to the New York Stadium.
The hosts are rooted to the foot of the division and nine points adrift of safety with 18 games left to play, while their visitors now sit a single point outside of the top two and will aim to crack the automatic promotion spots at the weekend.
Match preview
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Rotherham United head into the weekend aiming to continue an improved run of form in the Championship under Leam Richardson, with their position in the fight for Championship survival remaining relatively desperate.
From their 28 games thus far, the Millers have managed just 19 points, courtesy of three victories alongside 15 defeats, leaving them four points behind 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday and nine adrift of safety.
Richardson took over in South Yorkshire in mid-December with the aim of leading a climb out of the bottom three, and after a tough start to life as Rotherham boss, he has since overseen a creditable improvement, with Saturday's hosts having added six points to their tally in the last five attempts, firstly beating Middlesbrough 1-0 on Boxing Day before playing out 1-1 and 2-2 draws with Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers respectively either side of the turn of the year.
A 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke City did halt their growing momentum, before the Millers most recently faced a tough trip to Middlesbrough last weekend and looked set to complete an unlikely double thanks to Cafu's opener, only to eventually leave with a point as Marcus Forss levelled the scores eight minutes from time.
Now facing a nine-point gap to safety, albeit with a game in hand over their main rivals in the fight to avoid the drop, Rotherham United will be desperate to build on their recent upturn with a much-needed winning run to stand a chance of breaking out of the relegation zone in the coming months.
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They face another particularly difficult test, though, as Southampton arrive in South Yorkshire in eye-catching form and with their sights set on the top two.
Aiming to win promotion back to the Premier League under the new management of Russell Martin this term, Southampton currently occupy third spot in England's second tier with 58 points from their first 28 matches, having now gone 20 league games unbeaten since a tough run in September.
Indeed, the Saints have won 14 of those 20 outings to narrow the gap to their automatic promotion rivals in recent months, including four straight triumphs to round off 2023 before bouncing back from a New Year's Day draw against Norwich City with two further three-point hauls heading into Saturday's trip.
Martin's men quickly bounced back to winning ways in style with a 4-0 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday, thanks to goals from Che Adams, Adam Armstrong, Ryan Fraser and Sekou Mara, before making it consecutive triumphs with a 3-1 triumph away at Swansea City last time out in the second tier, with Adams again on the scoresheet alongside William Smallbone and Flynn Downes.
Now on the back of a 1-1 draw away at Watford in the FA Cup fourth round last weekend, Southampton turn their focus back to Championship action in a strong position having reduced the gap to second-placed Ipswich Town to just a single point, and they will set out to finally crack the top two at the weekend with a third straight league win.
Team News
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Rotherham United will continue to contend with an unenviable injury list on Saturday, with defenders Tyler Blackett, Cameron Humphreys and Grant Hall remaining confined to the treatment room alongside Shane Ferguson and Andre Green.
Given the impressive result and resolute display, Leam Richardson may opt to deploy the same starting XI that drew 1-1 away at Middlesbrough last time out, with Hakeem Odoffin again expected to join Sean Morrison and Sebastian Revan at the heart of a back five.
Oliver Rathbone will fight to return from the outset, after Jamie Lindsay, Christ Tiehi, Sam Clucas and Cafu were preferred in midfield from the start at the Riverside Stadium, while Jordan Hugill should continue to spearhead the attack and will search for his first Championship goal since October.
Southampton have a list of absentees of their own, with Joe Aribo away with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations and James Bree, Juan Larios and Ross Stewart sidelined, while wingers Samuel Edozie and Kamaldeen Sulemana have both returned to training after injury layoffs but are unlikely to feature from the start at the weekend.
Instead, Adam Armstrong, Che Adams and Ryan Fraser should line up in an unchanged front three, having notched up a combined tally of 27 Championship goals so far this season with Armstrong also boasting 11 league assists, despite facing new competition from Bournemouth loanee David Brooks.
Elsewhere, William Smallbone, Flynn Downes and Stuart Armstrong should again get the nod to line up in a midfield trio, while Jan Bednarek and Taylor Harwood-Bellis will continue their partnership in the middle of the back four.
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Peltier, Odoffin, Morrison, Revan, Bramall; Clucas, Tiehi, Rathbone, Cafu; Hugill
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Manning; Downes, Smallbone, S Armstrong; A Armstrong, Adams, Fraser
We say: Rotherham United 0-2 Southampton
Rotherham United have certainly showed signs of improvement in recent weeks and can be resilient, but we see Saturday's visitors being too strong and can only envisage the Saints outclassing Richardson's side and returning to the south coast with all three points.
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Sam Varley
