Southampton take the 33-mile trek down to Bournemouth on Sunday as they look to get back to winning ways in the Premier League.
Wednesday night saw an encouraging performance at league leaders Manchester City, despite Raheem Sterling’s 96-minute winner breaking Saints hearts.
Bournemouth were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Burnley in midweek, as they too look to turn things around this weekend.
The last time these two sides met at the Vitality Stadium, it was a Sunday in December, with a 1:30 pm kick-off, and the game was perfect for the Saints.
Nathan Ake put the Cherries ahead with an early diving header, but the visitors struck back, as a good run down the left wing saw Ryan Bertrand’s low effort find the far corner.
A rejuvenated Saints side emerged from the tunnel after the interval and took the lead minutes after the restart through Jay Rodriguez, now at West Brom, who tapped in a Steven Davis cross.
The third and final goal for Saints was sensational. Nathan Redmond was blocked off by two Bournemouth defenders, and as the ball bounced up into the air, Rodriguez was there to fire a dipping volley into the top corner from 20 yards and seal the points for Claude Puel’s side.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s men will hope to emulate that performance, and bring some much-needed points back to St Mary’s.
