Southampton v Bournemouth: Team news & predictions

The game kicks off at 1730 GMT at St Mary's, live on BT Sport 1 HD.  

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Southampton v Bournemouth: Team news

Martin Caceres could make his Southampton debut at home to Bournemouth after being declared fit for the first time.

The defender recently arrived as a free agent and will vie with Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens for selection in central defence, with long-term absentee Virgil van Dijk still out of action.

Shane Long and Jay Rodriguez are in contention to start up front after Manolo Gabbiadini, because of a groin injury, joined Charlie Austin - who has an injured shoulder - on the sidelines.

Bournemouth will check on the fitness of midfielder Ryan Fraser (hamstring) ahead of the Premier League match against Southampton

Winger Junior Stanislas (groin) and midfielder Harry Arter (calf) both missed the win over Swansea before the international break, but are expected to be available, while French forward Lys Mousset has been carrying a hamstring problem.

Defender Tyrone Mings continues to serve his five-match suspension for a stamp on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Forward Callum Wilson, goalkeeper Adam Federici and defender Rhoys Wiggins all continue their recoveries from knee injuries.

Southampton (from): Forster, Taylor, Bertrand, Yoshida, Caceres, Gardos, Cedric, Hesketh, Romeu, Clasie, Ward-Prowse, Isgrove, Tadic, Redmond, Boufal, Lewis, Stephens, Hojbjerg, McQueen, Sims, Rodriguez, Long.

Bournemouth (from): Boruc, Daniels, S Cook, Francis, A Smith, Wilshere, Surman, Gosling, Pugh, King, Afobe, Allsop, B Smith, L Cook, Gradel, Ibe, Cargill, Stanislas, Arter, Mousset, Fraser.

Southampton v Bournemouth: Manager quotes

 

Claude Puel (Southampton)

Asked if he had spoken to Dusan Tadic about his recent comments, he responded: "Yes.

"All the players can have disappointment after the game. I understand this but we sorted it internally.

"He knows it was not a good response. It is always better to give good answers on the pitch." 

On Sofiane Boufal: "At the moment he has some confidence problems and I need to discuss with him to find a solution.

"It is important to see at this level his quality; he is happy to play with this team.

"There is a lot of pressure on him and it is difficult for him to have just 15 to 25 minutes to play.

"He likes to play and needs confidence to give all his possibilities. 

On Virgil van Dijk: "(Van Dijk's) is a long injury and we will see if he can come back before the end of the season.

"The injury does not change anything. He is an important player for us, our captain and it is important he takes this role with good quality, good attitude and good spirit.

"For me he is among the best defenders in the Premier League but he can play with us and we can give him good maturity for the future." 

Eddie Howe (Bournemouth)

On looking to make Jack Wilshere's transfer permanent: "Jack will be the one who decides his future, in conjunction with Arsenal.

"It was very clear at the start of this loan he was going to make his decision in terms of the next steps for him in the summer.

"He just wanted to concentrate on his football with us, to try to just have the best season that he can.

"Jack has certainly had a good season with us as far as I am concerned, and it will be interesting to see what happens beyond that point.

"Jack picked up an ankle injury against Manchester City and in the following games we have picked up some good results, so it has been difficult to change a winning team when it is performing so well. We know his qualities and he is ready to go if he is selected on Saturday."

On boosting survival hopes with a win: "From our perspective, it is a slightly different game, Southampton are the nearest club to us, so the supporters would feel the importance of this game and we respect that, we want to give them a win.

"It is a case of looking at the game, knowing its importance especially with the fixtures we have got to come beyond this one.

"We have had three really good results in our last three games, so there is some consistency there, but we know we have got a long way to go. Games like this one will define that, so we are looking for a good performance and then hopefully the result will follow."

Southampton v Bournemouth: Our prediction 

Our David John writes... the day starts and finishes with a derby clash and although hardly of the same magnitude as Merseyside – or even Saints v Portsmouth – this could be a fixture on the rise as long as they stick around in the top flight.

Round one prior to Christmas went to Southampton in convincing fashion 3-1 and they are a warm order to complete the double but the nature of the scheduling lately means they have had very little game time with Claude Puel a tad worried his players could struggle to be fully focused.

He has had a squad of just six players to work with this week in the build-up while the majority have been away on international duty – central defender Maya Yoshida has travelled a whopping 14,000 miles to represent Japan.

It seems very likely Puel will also be without striker Manolo Gabbiadini with this game coming too soon following the injury he picked up at Tottenham – the January arrival has certainly proved a difference maker and the onus now flicks back onto Shane Long and/or Jay Rodriguez. 

The Cherries were certainly teetering a bit early in 2017 but the backs-to-the-wall 1-1 draw at Manchester United proved a watershed moment with a pair of victories to follow and a clean sheet to boot last time against Swansea. 

There is work still to do despite being nine points clear of danger currently but the 54 goals they have shipped is the third worst in the section – an issue still to be fearful of even without the marauding Gabbiadini patrolling the danger area.

It is reasonable to assume this is perhaps the most positive little spell of the season for Eddie Howe and his team so there is some potential to catch the hosts unaware if Southampton do start sluggishly.

Yoshida’s travels could see him rested so his promising partnership at the back broken up with Jack Stephens will mean a start for Martin Caceres – that bit of uncertainty can be exploited by the mobile visiting attack and a bet on a fired-up Bournemouth to score first is suggested.

Prediction: Southampton 2-1 Bournemouth

Southampton v Bournemouth: Opta facts 

Southampton have won two of their three Premier League games against their south coast rivals Bournemouth (L1). 

The Cherries have never won an away match at Southampton in any competition (D4 L8). 

Saints have won each of their last three meetings at home to Bournemouth by a 2-0 scoreline, twice in the Premier League and once in the League Cup. 

Jay Rodriguez scored twice in Southampton’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth in December – half of his Premier League season tally (4 in 16 apps). 

Josh King has eight goals and one assist in his last eight Premier League appearances for Bournemouth. 

Southampton have named the same starting XI in their last three Premier League games – they haven’t done this for four successive league matches since a run of five matches in November-December 2012. 

Thirty-three points is Southampton’s lowest points tally in a Premier League season after 27 games since 2012-13 (27). At this stage last season they’d won 40 points, in 2014-15 it was 46 points and in 2013-14 they had 39 points. 

Bournemouth have been awarded a league-high nine penalties in the Premier League this season. 

There have been five penalties missed in games involving Bournemouth this season (of 14 taken); more than any other team. Bournemouth have missed two of these, their opponents have missed three. 

Bournemouth have conceded 31 goals in 14 away games this season in the Premier League (2.2 per game) – 21 of which have come in their last eight on the road in the competition.      

Southampton v Bournemouth: Sky Bet odds

A big derby on the south coast and the Saints are 8/13 with Sky Bet to complete double over their local rivals in the Premier League this season. Claude Puel’s side came out on top 3-1 in their encounter just before Christmas and a repeat of that scoreline to the home side is an 11/1 chance. The Cherries have recovered from a slump in 2017 by winning back-to-back matches and are 17/4 to make it three on the spin with a draw trading at 3/1. Josh King bagged a recent hat-trick against West Ham and he is 7/1 to open the scoring and 100/1 to fire in another treble.  

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