Two sides still with a bit of work to do to assure themselves of safety in the Premier League prepare for battle at St Mary's on Saturday lunchtime, as Southampton play host to Crystal Palace.
The Saints rescued a 2-2 draw away to Brighton & Hove Albion last time out, while Patrick Vieira's side played out a goalless stalemate at home to Leeds United.
Match preview
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Not one Premier League fan needs reminding of James Ward-Prowse's dead-ball qualities, and the Southampton skipper delivered on that front once again during his side's battle with Brighton while also proving that he is not just a one-trick pony on set-pieces.
With Danny Welbeck's tap-in and Mohammed Salisu's own goal - and a well-taken one at that - putting Brighton two goals to the good, Ward-Prowse fired a free kick into the back of the net off the post on the stroke of half time before drilling in an effort from outside the area in front of the travelling fans.
Having made the journey back home across the South Coast with another point in the bag, Southampton have more or less staved off the threat of a late relegation scrap as they occupy 13th spot in the standings - 11 points clear of 18th-placed Everton, who do boast two games in hand.
A paltry tally of just one win from their last eight Premier League games has dented Southampton's hopes of a top-half finish, but Leicester City and Newcastle United are still within touching distance as Ralph Hasenhuttl aims to steer the Saints to their first top-10 finish since 2016-17.
The hosts also ended a run of three straight home defeats in the Premier League with a 1-0 success over Arsenal two weeks ago, but that win represents their only clean sheet in any competition since the start of March, and Palace are desperate to rediscover their attacking touch.
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The menace that was Wilfried Zaha and his Crystal Palace side just could not find their way through a determined Leeds United defence on Monday night, and Jesse Marsch certainly left as the happier of the two managers following that goalless draw in the capital.
Patrick Vieira has now overseen a run of three defeats and a draw in all competitions for this topsy-turvy Palace outfit, who are also yet to assure themselves of a place in the division next season but should possess the firepower needed to get over the line successfully.
Taking just one point from the last nine on offer in the top flight sees Palace sit one place and two points worse off than Southampton in 14th with a game in hand, and attempting to consolidate a mid-table position is the only objective left on Vieira's 2021-22 agenda now.
The Eagles have proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with at Selhurst Park in recent weeks, but Vieira's side have only won three league games away from home all season - only the hapless trio of Norwich City, Burnley and Everton have fared worse in that regard.
Southampton and Palace played out an end-to-end 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park just before Christmas, and the Eagles are still waiting for their first Premier League clean sheet away from home against the hosts, who will still be wary of a Vieira frontline with a point to prove.
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Team News
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Thoughts will be spared for Southampton youngster Tino Livramento this weekend, with the 19-year-old requiring oxygen as he was stretchered off with a season-ending ACL injury against Brighton.
Livramento may not be able to return to action until 2023, and Hasenhuttl will likely shift Kyle Walker-Peters back to the right-hand side as Romain Perraud comes in at left-back, unless Yan Valery does enough to warrant a start.
One positive for Hasenhuttl is that he has no other fresh concerns to contend with for the visit of the Eagles, with Alex McCarthy building up his fitness following a thigh injury, and Armando Broja will certainly hope to return to the side after a rare start for Shane Long at the Amex.
In contrast, Palace came out of Monday's game with Leeds unscathed, but Tyrick Mitchell was a notable absentee from the Eagles' squad, with Vieira claiming that the England international was "not at 100%" following a difficult run of games.
Luka Milivojevic should be in with a strong chance of coming back from a thigh injury in time for Saturday, but Nathan Ferguson remains out of contention after suffering a setback in his recovery from a similar issue.
Michael Olise was also absent from the first XI against Leeds but will hope to regain his spot over Jordan Ayew, and Eberechi Eze's spot in the middle is also under threat from Jeffrey Schlupp.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Forster; Walker-Peters, Salisu, Bednarek, Perraud; Redmond, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, S. Armstrong; Adams, Broja
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Gallagher, Kouyate, Schlupp; Olise, Mateta, Zaha
We say: Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace
Winning games on the road has been a sticky point for Palace all season long, and their tag of resident draw specialists could certainly ring true in a fixture where the spoils are often shared.
It is difficult to back Southampton with any real confidence either given their mixed bag of results and devastating injury to Livramento, so we can only predict another stalemate between the two sides here.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Southampton win with a probability of 36.77%. A win for Crystal Palace had a probability of 36.58% and a draw had a probability of 26.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Southampton win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.92%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.12%) and 2-0 (6.36%). The likeliest Crystal Palace win was 0-1 (9.89%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.67%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.1% likelihood.
