Get all the key information ahead of Southampton's Premier League game at Leicester City with our in-depth match preview, in association with SportPesa...
THE MATCH
Leicester City vs Southampton
Premier League
King Power Stadium
Saturday 12th January, 3pm GMT
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistant referees: Simon Bennett, Mick McDonough
Fourth official: David Coote
WHAT KIT ARE SAINTS IN?
Southampton will be wearing their red-and-white home shirts for this game.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
For Southampton, it’s a chance to build on the impressive 0-0 draw at Chelsea and potentially climb out of the drop zone, with the three teams immediately above them all currently two points better off.
With Cardiff hosting Huddersfield and Burnley at home to Fulham, there’s the potential for Saturday to be a big day at the bottom end of the table.
For Leicester and former Saints boss Claude Puel, they will be looking to make it back-to-back Premier League wins and strengthen their grip on seventh place, as well as bounce back from the disappointment of their FA Cup exit at Newport County last weekend.
TEAM NEWS
Leicester City: Winger Harvey Barnes is back at Leicester after an impressive loan spell at West Brom and could play a part for the hosts. Claude Puel will be without Daniel Amartey, who is a long-term absentee with an ankle injury.
Southampton: Ralph Hasenhüttl remains without Michael Obafemi, while Danny Ings is also absent this weekend, although the Saints boss is hopeful Ings will be back for the following Saturday's Premier League game against Everton. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg remains suspended, while Ryan Bertrand is back in training, but is still some time away from being match fit. Charlie Austin also begins a two-game suspension this weekend.
FORM GUIDE
Leicester’s last five:
Newport County (a) L 1-2 (FA Cup)
Everton (a) W 1-0
Cardiff (h) L 0-1
Manchester City (h) W 2-1
Chelsea (a) W 1-0
Southampton’s last five:
Derby (a) D 2-2 (FA Cup)
Chelsea (a) D 0-0
Manchester City (h) L 1-3
West Ham (h) L 1-2
Huddersfield (a) W 3-1
THE MANAGERS
Claude Puel: "I saw a team with good organisation in the last game. I think they have good mentality and aggressiveness, it will be a tough game. Our objective doesn’t change. We are seventh at this moment, but we know the difficulties to maintain this ranking in the table. We have difficult games to play. We need focus and concentration."
Ralph Hasenhüttl: "We have to be aware about the counter qualities that they have, with a lot of speed with Vardy in front, so we can't have any easy ball losses in the centre, with good transition forward and best we then finish the action and come back in our shape. If we are in our shape it is not so easy to score against us, like we showed against Chelsea. For us, if we get the ball, and also win it deep, then we have the quality to switch forward very quick and try to get our pace on the ground. If we do that then we have a good chance to score."
TOP PERFORMERS
Unsurprisingly, Jamie Vardy leads the way for the Foxes in the goal charts, with seven in the Premier League so far. Leicester have also had a lot of productivity out of midfielder James Maddison, who has five goals and three assists in the top-flight this term.
For Saints, the danger man recently has been Nathan Redmond, who has four goals and two assists already under new manager Ralph Hasenhüttl, including two strikes in the FA Cup trip to Derby last weekend.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
This will be the 89th competitive meeting between the clubs, with little between them throughout history, although Saints have the slight edge in the overall record.
Played: 88
Leicester: 27
Draws: 29
Southampton: 32
Previous five meetings:
November 2018: Leicester 0-0 Southampton (Leicester win 6-5 on pens) (Carabao Cup)
August 2018: Southampton 1-2 Leicester (Bertrand)
April 2018: Leicester 0-0 Southampton
December 2017: Southampton 1-4 Leicester (Yoshida)
January 2017: Southampton 3-0 Leicester (Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez, Tadić pen)
DID YOU KNOW?
• If Angus Gunn plays and keeps a clean sheet, he will become the first Southampton goalkeeper to keep two clean sheets in his opening two Premier League games for the club.
• Recent history suggests clean sheets are popular in this fixture, with the last three meetings at King Power Stadium ending goalless.
• Saints have been good travellers under Ralph Hasenhüttl, earning four points from their last two Premier League away games, matching the total they had earned in their previous nine on the road in the competition.
NOT AT THE GAME?
Don’t worry if you haven’t got a ticket for King Power Stadium. 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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