Get the lowdown ahead of Southampton's FA Cup Third Round trip to Derby County with our in-depth match preview, in association with SportPesa...
THE MATCH
Derby County vs Southampton
Emirates FA Cup Third Round
Pride Park
Saturday 5th January, 3.00pm GMT
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Oliver Langford
Assistant Referees: Andrew Fox & Shaun Hudson
Fourth Official: Neil Hair
WHAT KIT ARE SAINTS IN?
Southampton will be wearing their yellow and blue away strip at Pride Park.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
For both sides, the chance to return to winning ways at the start of 2019.
Back-to-back wins over Arsenal and Huddersfield for Saints have been followed by defeats to West Ham and Man City but Wednesday’s stoic 0-0 draw with Chelsea will give Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men confidence of getting a result here.
Frank Lampard’s Derby have won just one of their last five Championship matches but enter the new year with a degree of optimism.
Four points were yielded from clashes with promotion contenders Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and Norwich over the festive period to set up a cushion in the play-offs over seventh-place Notts Forest.
Recent history has been kind to both clubs in the cups of late; Derby produced a stunning performance to eliminate Manchester United on penalties in the third round of the Carabao Cup while Saints of course are last season’s FA Cup semi-finalists.
Being in the Premier League next season remains the primary objective but a cup run would be welcomed by both sets of supporters.
TEAM NEWS
Derby: Frank Lampard has suggested that he may rotate his Derby squad for the visit of Saints with players that have lacked game time of late in his thoughts. Midfielder Tom Lawrence is set to return from injury while Harry Wilson is likely to be absent after picking up a knock against Middlesbrough.
Southampton: Ralph Hasenhüttl has indicated that changes are likely to be made at Pride Park but is keen to give the FA Cup its due respect nonetheless.
Eight alterations were made against Chelsea during the week and the Austrian is set to shuffle the pack with Matt Targett among the frontrunners to return to the Saints line up.
Further tweaks will be required at the back given Maya Yoshida’s departure to join up with the Japan squad ahead of this month’s AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
FORM GUIDE
Derby’s last five:
Middlesbrough (h) D 1-1
Norwich (a) W 4-3
Sheffield United (a) L 3-1
Bristol City (h) D 1-1
Nottingham Forest (h) D 0-0
Southampton’s last five:
Chelsea (a) D 0-0
Man City (h) L 1-3
West Ham (h) L 1-2
Huddersfield (a) W 3-1
Arsenal (h) W 3-2
TOP PERFORMERS
Derby: A pair of loanees have been critical for Derby so far, in the form of Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount and Liverpool’s Harry Wilson.
Mount’s performances were rewarded with a call-up to the England squad last year and comparisons have been drawn to his manager’s style of play for his goalscoring abilities and range of passing.
Winger Wilson, a Welsh international, has caught the eye for his penchant for long-range goals this term and has rescued the Rams on more than one occasion in spectacular fashion.
Combined with fox in the box Jack Marriott - a summer signing from Peterborough - the trio have racked up 25 goals and 8 assists between them this season.
Southampton: A collective and gruelling team effort earned a share of the spoils at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night and key to Saints’ defensive solidity was the performance of Premier League debutant Angus Gunn.
The 22-year-old keeper made crucial saves from Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso en route to his side’s first clean sheet in 11 games. His six saves during the match watch as a team high for the season.
Oriol Romeu skippered the side that night for the second time in three games and is enjoying a revival under Hasenhüttl. The midfield enforcer is starting to rediscover the consistency of performance that made him the club’s Player of the Season for the 2016/17 campaign.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
This will be the 71st meeting between the teams in all competitions. The Rams have had marginally the better of the fixture down the years though are currently on a six-game winless run against Saturday’s visitors (L3 D2).
All-time record:
Played: 70
Derby: 27
Draws: 22
Southampton: 21
Previous five meetings:
February 2012: Southampton 4-0 Derby (Hooiveld, Martin, Lallana, Lee)
October 2011: Derby 1-1 Southampton (Lambert)
March 2009: Southampton 1-1 Derby (Perry)
August 2008: Derby 0-1 Southampton (McGoldrick)
May 2007: Derby 2-3 Southampton (Viafara 2, Rasiak)
DID YOU KNOW?
Last season’s semi-finalists Southampton won all three of their away FA Cup games in 2017-18 – in fact, Saints have lost just one of their last 10 away FA Cup games (W7 D2), a 0-1 defeat against Sunderland in 2013-14.
NOT AT THE GAME?
Don’t worry if you haven’t got a ticket for Saturday, we’ll be there to bring you all of the action, as well as a host of behind-the-scenes access.
Check out our interactive match centre at southamptonfc.com, with all of the live in-game updates and free audio commentary of the match.
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