The last time Stoke City faced Southampton was back in early December, and a rather dull game finished with the honours even at 0-0.
Neither side could create nor finish many chances, and five months down the line not much has changed for both sides. Southampton are without a goal in five home matches and will look to change that this Sunday.
Stoke away on a cold Wednesday night is never an attractive fixture. Stoke, as they often do, sat back and let Southampton have majority of the possession. Claude Puel seemed to be really frustrated on the bench and had a right to be, as his Southampton side struggled to break down a well drilled Stoke defence that only had ten men after Marko Arnautovic was sent off for a lunge on Sofiane Boufal.
Prior to this fixture back before the turn of the year, only a point separated the sides. However, there is now a five-point gap between them both. Back in December both sides were fighting for who would take eighth place in the table but now, with only one game left to play, the table is pretty much as it will finish, with only a couple of teams likely to be changing positions.
A somewhat boring game can be expected on Sunday, but it can’t get much worse than a 0-0 against a ten-man Stoke City side on a cold Wednesday night… can it?
