Southampton will travel to the Riverside Stadium on Saturday to face a Middlesbrough side who have already seen their first season back in the Premier League end in relegation.
The Saints go in to this game on the back of five games without a win, in three of which they have failed to find the back of the net. Claude Puel will be looking at the final three games and see this, as well as the final fixture against Stoke City, as a good opportunity to pick up some points and finish above the seven or eight teams who are languishing with them in mid-table obscurity.
The Saints last met ‘Boro back in December and were looking to bounce back from the disappointment of being knocked out of the Europa League just a few days before. At the time, Claude Puel’s side were struggling for goals, having only scored two goals in their previous five Premier League games – an unwanted statistic which is repeated for the game on Saturday.
The last meeting started off well for Middlesbrough, who were playing under Aitor Karanka at the time, with some early pressure and shots from Viktor Fischer and Jordan Rhodes. Saints began to find their feet in game after 20 minutes when Jay Rodriguez’s instinctive effort was comfortably saved by Victor Valdes.
The best chance of the first half, however, fell to Middlesbrough. A misplaced pass from the Southampton midfield was intercepted by Fischer who managed to avoid the desperate challenge from Virgil van Dijk before he rounded Fraser Forster, only to have his final effort hit the post.
That would prove to be final effort on goal that Middlesbrough could muster, with Southampton taking full control of the match in the second half. Saints fans could have been forgiven for thinking that their side would fail to break the deadlock, with a lack of composure meaning that some decent chances were squandered by Dusan Tadic and Jay Rodriguez.
This was a game that was screaming out for some individual quality or a moment of brilliance – both of which came on the 53 minute mark. Sofiane Boufal casually collected the ball from James Ward-Prowse, moved the ball on to his left foot and from 25 yards, hit a thunderous shot past the helpless Valdes. This was the first goal for Southampton’s record-signing and also Saints’ 500th Premier League goal at home.
Claude Puel’s side had some more chances to close the game out with Rodriguez going closest; firing over from close range after good work by Nathan Redmond.
In the end, one fine goal from Boufal was enough for Saints to walk away with a win that would take them up to tenth place – the same position that they sit now as the Premier League season draws to a close.
