Bournemouth will be looking to boost their Premier League top-four hopes when they travel across the South Coast to St Mary's to take on basement club Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints will be seeking revenge against the Cherries after they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the Vitality Stadium at the end of September last year.
Match preview
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After ending their 13-game winless Premier League run with a 2-1 victory at fellow strugglers Ipswich Town a fortnight ago, Southampton came up short in frustrating fashion at home against Championship promotion hopefuls Burnley in the FA Cup fourth round, losing 1-0 last weekend.
Southampton ultimately lacked a cutting edge in the final third against statistically the strongest defence in Europe, with Marcus Edwards netting what proved to be the match-winner 13 minutes from time to send the Saints packing as early as the fourth round for the first time since 2019-20.
An early exit from the FA Cup may be viewed by some Southampton fans as a blessing in disguise, as it allows Ivan Juric and co to focus fully on their attempts to avoid relegation and pull off one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history; they currently sit rock bottom of the table and 10 points adrift of safety with 14 games remaining.
It is fair to say that Southampton supporters have had very little to smile about this season, particularly on home soil as the Saints have picked up a league-low four points from a possible 33 available at St Mary's (W1 D1 L9), scoring the fewest goals (eight) and conceding the most (30) in the process.
Juric's side, who are seeking to avoid losing a seventh straight home league match, have suffered defeat in their last two PL meetings with Saturday's opponents Bournemouth, the same number of games they lost in their first 11 encounters with the Cherries in the division (W5 D4).
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Bournemouth find themselves in a strong position to qualify for Europe for the first time in their history, despite losing 2-0 at home to Premier League leaders Liverpool a fortnight ago - their only defeat across their last 14 matches in all competitions (W9 D4).
The Cherries bounced back with a 2-0 victory on the blue side of Merseyside against Everton in the FA Cup fourth round last weekend, with goals from Antoine Semenyo and Daniel Jebbison setting up a fifth-round tie with Wolves next month.
January's Premier League Manager of the Month Andoni Iraola is now focused on steering Bournemouth through a relatively favourable-looking run of top-flight fixtures against Southampton, Wolves, Brighton, Tottenham, Brentford, Ipswich and West Ham, as they endeavour to climb from seventh place and close the three-point gap to the top four.
Bournemouth head into Saturday's contest having lost only one of their last 12 Premier League matches against teams starting the day bottom of the table, winning all three games this season, while they are currently enjoying their longest ever unbeaten away run in the division (six - four wins, two draws).
After beating Southampton 3-1 in the reverse fixture five months ago, the Cherries will be looking to complete their first-ever league double over the Saints in what is the 15th different campaign in which these two teams have met.
Team News
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Southampton will be without Taylor Harwood-Bellis (ankle), Jack Stephens (calf), Ross Stewart (calf), Juan Larios and Ryan Fraser (both unspecified) due to injury, while Adam Lallana (hamstring) and Flynn Downes (knock) are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Nathan Wood has recently recovered from injury and could be fit to start in the back three alongside Jan Bednarek and James Bree, while Kyle Walker-Peters, Ryan Manning, Welington and Yukinari Sugawara are all contenders to start as wing-backs.
Aaron Ramsdale is expected to replace Alex McCarthy in goal, while Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu both scored against Ipswich a fortnight ago and could start again in midfield and attack respectively.
As for Bournemouth, Evanilson (foot), Enes Unal (ACL), James Hill, Marcos Senesi, Julian Araujo (all hamstring), Adam Smith (muscle) and Julio Soler (international duty) all remain unavailable for selection, while Alex Scott (knee) and Luis Sinisterra (hamstring) have "a chance" of returning, according to Iraola, are will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
A back four of Lewis Cook - still operating as a makeshift right-back - Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez is expected to protect goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, while Tyler Adams and Ryan Christie continue to link arms in centre-midfield.
Semenyo and Dango Ouattara both scored in the reverse fixture against Southampton and are expected to line up in attack along with David Brooks and Justin Kluivert, the latter of whom has recorded five goals and two assists in his last four Premier League appearances.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Bree, Bednarek, Wood; Walker-Peters, Aribo, Ugochukwu, Welington; Fernandes, Dibling; Onuachu
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Cook, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Christie, Adams; Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo; Ouattara
We say: Southampton 1-4 Bournemouth
Southampton will back themselves to score having found the net in each of their last four Premier League matches, but it is difficult to envisage this Saints side getting the better of Iraola's well-oiled Bournemouth machine and securing back-to-back PL wins for the first time since February 2022.
Despite the absence of several injured players, the Cherries have the firepower to cause plenty of problems to Southampton's frail backline and they will be regarded as firm favourites to claim maximum points at St Mary's.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
