Southampton travel away to face Tottenham in the FA Cup on Wednesday night as they look to secure their place in the fifth round of the competition.
The winner of this replay is set to host fellow Premier League side Norwich in the next round, with the game due to be in the first week of March.
Spurs and Southampton played out a 1-1 draw in the original fixture, with Sofiane Boufal securing the replay after Heung-Min Son had opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Going into Wednesday’s night’s game, who do Southampton need to keep quiet in order to win?
We think that Southampton need to be very wary of the threat of Son yet again for this clash. He has scored 14 and assisted eight in all competitions for Tottenham this season, highlighting his prowess in the final third in terms of finishing and creating chances.
However, it is not only the stats on the board that Southampton will be scared of – having already seen first-hand what he can do on the pitch. It was his clever movement and excellent finish which put Spurs in front last month in the 1-1 draw, yet again showing why he is one of Tottenham’s main threats.
How can they stop him? Well, his aforementioned goal in the 1-1 draw came because of a positional mistake from right-back Kevin Danso. The young defender was dragged away from the play and was not marking Son, allowing him a free run at the goal on the left side of the box – giving Angus Gunn next to no chance of stopping him. Son is top-class when afforded space to cut inside off the left and curl or drive shots into the bottom corners, so Southampton need to be switched on at all times.
Whoever is at right-back, whether it be Danso or James Ward-Prowse, needs to be alert to the danger and try to force Son down the sides. If they can force him further wide and to the byline, rather than allowing him to cut inside, they could limit the impact he is able to have in front of goal. With Harry Kane also out injured, forcing Tottenham to cross the ball could be a smart tactic due to the lack of height through the middle for Spurs.
