Southampton face Bournemouth on Friday at St Mary’s in the penultimate game before the South Coast derby next week. Saints will be looking to extend their fine form to five games unbeaten in all competitions.
The last time the two sides faced off was towards the back-end of the 2018/19 season in an entertaining 3-3 draw which saw Southampton get the point they needed to confirm their Premier League status.
Saints and Bournemouth have both started the season in the exact same way, with seven points from two wins, two defeats and a single draw apiece.
A win for either team could see them move up to third place – if only for a few hours – and this should provide a big incentive as both sides harbour aspirations of breaking into the top half.
With both clubs having the ability to play free-flowing, attacking football, I have opted for this combined XI to line up in a 4-3-3 formation.
