A pivotal Premier League basement battle takes place at St Mary's Stadium on Wednesday night, as Southampton welcome Nottingham Forest to the South Coast.
The Saints suffered an agonizing 2-1 defeat to Fulham in their most recent battle, while Steve Cooper's side deservedly hung on for a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
Match preview
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A trademark James Ward-Prowse free kick counted for nought as Southampton fell to a late defeat against European outsiders Fulham on New Year's Eve, as the Saints captain lost the battle for midfield superiority to Cottagers hero Joao Palhinha.
Ward-Prowse turned into his own net before sending a thumping long-range free kick beyond the futile reach of Bernd Leno in the 56th minute, but as they were just two minutes away from holding on for a point, Palhinha headed home at the back stick to leave Southampton empty-handed.
The Saints board's decision to fire Ralph Hasenhuttl and hire Nathan Jones is yet to be vindicated, as Southampton prepare for their first match of the New Year sitting rock bottom of the standings, but only two points separate them from the safety of 17th place at the time of writing.
Now at risk of suffering a sixth consecutive defeat in England's top flight, Southampton enter 2023 as the division's worst-performing home team with a mere six points from a possible 24 at St Mary's, while also conceding a league-high 15 goals on their own patch so far.
Finding the back of the net in each of their last four matches does give the Saints a slight glimmer of hope, as does the fact that they have won each of their last three opening games of the calendar year, but the visitors travel south with a fresh wave of optimism.
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Following a spate of New Year's Eve fireworks, Nottingham Forest's clash with Chelsea also saw sparks fly between two hot-headed teams, and the City Ground faithful left the happier of the two sets of fans after witnessing their team claim a well-earned point.
Raheem Sterling's fortunate goal put Chelsea 1-0 up on the 16-minute mark, but former Tottenham Hotspur man Serge Aurier proved that there was no love lost with his old London rivals as he did brilliantly to chest the ball down and volley home just after the hour mark.
While happily accepting a point against the Blues, Steve Cooper admitted that his side arguably should have come away with all three, and as a result they remain below the dotted ine in 18th place but only behind West Ham United on goal difference.
Two defeats in seven is hardly a disastrous record for Nottingham Forest, especially when those most recent losses came away to Arsenal and Manchester United, but they remain without a Premier League win on the road this term and have now embarrassingly failed to score in their last six top-flight games on rival turf.
Only once have Forest managed to make the net ripple away from home this term, with Brennan Johnson registering against Everton in August, but with 44 shots on goal away from home since the Welshman's effort, it has not been for the want of trying.
Wednesday's match will mark the first meeting between Southampton and Forest since the 2011-12 Championship season, where the Saints did the double over the Tricky Trees by an aggregate scoreline of 6-2, but Forest have gone unbeaten in their five previous Premier League contests at the home of the South Coast side.
Team News
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Southampton starlet Sam Edozie was an enforced withdrawal in the 77th minute of his side's defeat to Fulham, but the 19-year-old is only thought to have been suffering from cramp and should be fine to feature on Wednesday.
That is more than can be said for Alex McCarthy, Theo Walcott, Juan Larios and Valentino Livramento, who is still a few weeks away from returning from his serious knee injury, but Jones should otherwise be working with the same crop of players he had at Craven Cottage.
Changes could be kept to a minimum after the hosts gave Fulham a good run for their money, but Che Adams may be fearful of losing his place up front after missing a couple of chances last time out.
With regard to Forest, a hefty long-term injury list still includes Omar Richards, Moussa Niakhate, Cheikhou Kouyate and Giulian Biancone, while Jesse Lingard's thigh problem could rule the 30-year-old out for up to a month.
Cooper has no fresh concerns to report from the draw with Chelsea and could very well keep faith with the same starting XI from that deserved draw, as Aurier keeps Neco Williams at bay in defence, but Gustavo Scarpa is now available to make his competitive debut following his arrival from Palmeiras.
Tough-tackling midfielder Ryan Yates will miss Forest's clash with Leicester City on January 14 if he is booked here, but the 25-year-old ought to hold his position regardless.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Lyanco, Salisu, Bella-Kotchap; Walker-Peters, Lavia, Ward-Prowse, Elyounoussi; S. Armstrong, Aribo; Adams
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Aurier, Worrall, Boly, Lodi; Yates, Freuler, Mangala; Johnson, Gibbs-White, Awoniyi
We say: Southampton 1-1 Nottingham Forest
A revitalized Nottingham Forest can end their abysmal goalscoring failures on the road against a leaky Southampton defence, but Cooper's side are crucially working with a day's less rest before a long trip south.
Jones's men have not had much trouble finding the back of the net during their own poor stretch of results, and with both teams wary of defeat in this relegation six-pointer, we can anticipate a low-scoring stalemate at St Mary's.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
