Southampton return to Premier League action this weekend as they make the long trip up to Lancashire to face Burnley in a vital encounter for the Saints.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s men come into the game on the back of a win in the FA Cup last weekend against West Brom, winning 2-1 at the Hawthorns thanks to goals from Wesley Hoedt and Dusan Tadic.
The Saints have also only lost one of their last eight matches in all competitions and have hit a bit of a purple patch, which has largely come in the cup.
As for the visitors, they weren’t in FA Cup action last weekend but prior to this suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Swansea City in the Premier League.
The win for the Saints was much needed and it’s all very well winning in the cup, but the team need to start picking up more points in the league to secure their Premier League status for next season.
They come into the game in 18th place as they prepare to enter a vital spell in the season which also sees them play Stoke City, Newcastle United and West Ham United.
On the other hand, Sean Dyche’s side come into the game in poor form having lost three of their last five league games. They have secured no wins in 11 in all competitions having started the season so well.
The Saints squad will be relieved to be on their travels this weekend as in recent times, their performances on the road have been much better and they have been allowed to play with much more freedom than they are when they play at St Mary’s.
Mauricio Pellegrino has picked up 11 points from his 12 away games so far and they will be looking to add a third away victory tomorrow afternoon to lift the side out of the drop zone.
The Lancashire-based club have performed well in front on their fans, picking up 18 points from their 13 home games this term. Following a poor run of results, Burnley will be keen to come back to winning ways this weekend against the Saints.
The two teams met earlier in the season when a late Sam Vokes strike consigned Saints to a 1-0 defeat late on despite dominating the contest.
Pellegrino has sat down and spoken to the media ahead of his side’s trip to Burnley this weekend and he expects it to be a tight affair between two very evenly matched teams. As quoted by the official Southampton website, the Saints boss said:
Burnley will be a really tight game, I would imagine. It’s a really difficult game. It is a team who won a lot of points in the first part of the season and now they have not won in a long period of time, but at home they are really strong because they do not concede too much.
He continued by adding that his side must learn from the experiences from the defeat which they suffered against this weekend’s opponents in November.
We can use the home game as experience, which was really close with not many chances. Then towards the end we dominated, created chances but couldn’t score.
We have been working on how to approach this type of challenge and we will try to do our best.
He also spoke about his side’s run of games coming up, which sees them face six away games out of the next seven, starting with Burnley this weekend.
I think mentally we have to be stronger. Instead of the crowd helping you, they will be against you.
All the decisions that we make can influence the referee and the crowd, so we have to be really focused. We have to be stronger in all different aspects, but I think we are ready.
A defeat in this game will only increase the pressure on the Saints boss, Pellegrino who has struggled to make much of an impact this season, winning just five league games.
In terms of team news, Saints remain without Charlie Austin but he is expected to return in less than a month’s time. Maya Yoshida has been ruled out of the game and is expected to miss up to five weeks of action after suffering a training injury.
Shane Long, Steven Davis and Sofiane Boufal are all being assessed ahead of the trip to Burnley with Moroccan international Boufal the only player to have returned to training this week after all missing last weekend’s win at West Brom.
As for Burnley, Chris Wood and Dean Marney are set to be available for the encounter after working their way back from knee injuries. Defenders Phil Bardsley and James Tarkowski have both returned to training this week and will be involved with the team this weekend.
Scott Afield, Robbie Brady and Tom Heaton are all still working their way back to full fitness.
I’m expecting a tight contest between two very evenly matched sides this weekend with both sides needing the points. I think this one will end in a 1-1 draw.
