Stoke head to St.Mary’s on Saturday hoping to build on their 2-1 win over Manchester United last weekend, while Southampton go into the game on the back of a four game unbeaten run in the league.
Stoke’s win over the red side of Manchester saw them end a run of six games without a win and pushed them up to 11th in the table, 3 points above the relegation zone. Stoke will need to improve on their poor away record if they are to get anything out of this game, with Mark Hughes’s side only taking 5 points from a possible 36 so far this season.
Southampton have impressed under Mauricio Pochettino this season, with the Argentine recently being linked with the Real Madrid job. Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert have all been handed their England debuts under Pochettino this season, while Southampton’s English core have helped them to 9th in the table just 5 points behind Manchester United.
The Saints are unbeaten in their last 8 home games against Stoke and have not lost at home to the Potters since October 1980, with the last 3 games between these sides ending as a draw.
Team News
Southampton will be without Dejan Lovren and Gaston Ramirez who both suffered ankle injuries in the 2-2 draw with Sunderland, while Callum Chambers is doubtful with a knock.
Robert Huth remains out with a knee injury, while Matthew Etherington and Andy Wilkinson will both miss the visit to St.Marys.
Interesting Statistics
- The last 3 games between these sides have finished as a draw.
- Stoke have the joint worst away record in the Premier League this season have taken just 5 points away from home.
- Stoke have not won consecutive Premier League games since August 2013.
- Saints are yet to win a game after going behind this season.
- Stoke have failed to score in 5 of their last 6 away games.
Key Men
Adam Lallana
Adam Lallana has shone for Southampton this season, earning his first England caps and has put himself right in contention for a seat on the plane to Brazil, scoring 7 goals and getting 5 assists for the Saints in 24 appearances.
Lallana has been the Saints most creative player so far this season, creating 37 chances at a rate of a chance every 52 minutes which is 4 minutes more often than he was last season. His crossing accuracy has also improved by 6% this season and has made 24 more successful dribbles than last season.
The Englishman has also scored 7 goals this season, at a rate of a goal every 276 minutes which is 471 minutes more often than he scored last season and has improved his shooting accuracy by 19% with 63% of his shots hitting the target this season.
It is Lallana’s ability to not only create chances but to score goals that will frighten the Stoke defenders, with Lallana causing teams all sorts of problems in the Premier League this season.
Charlie Adam
Charlie Adam will go into the game against Southampton full of confidence after his two match winning goals against Manchester United last weekend.
The Scott is Stoke’s top goalscorer in the Premier League this season with 7 goals and has more goals than Peter Crouch and Jonathan Walters have combined for Stoke this season. His impressive strike rate this season has seen him hit the target with 58% of his shots, convert 21% of his chances and score a goal every 189 minutes in the Premier League this season.
It is not just goals that Adam has brought to the team though this season, with the player creating 27 chances – more than any other Stoke player, getting one assist in the process.
Adam will no doubt be Stoke’s dangerman against Southampton and he will be looking to continue his good goal scoring form this season as well as looking to create chances for Peter Crouch, who will also be looking to impress on his return to St.Marys.
Prediction
Southampton 2-0 Stoke
