Southampton continue their bid for a top 10 finish in the Premier League as they host Crystal Palace at St Mary’s on Saturday. This and more in this week’s Match Pack …
THE MATCH
Saints vs Palace
Premier League
St Mary’s Stadium
Saturday 30th April, 3pm BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Peter Bankes.
Assistants: Neil Davies, Timothy Wood.
Fourth official: Andre Marriner.
VAR: Stuart Attwell.
Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Sitting side by side in the Premier League table, both sides will be looking to finish their Premier League season on a high.
After an impressive comeback to secure a point against Brighton last time out, Saints’ hopes for a top ten finish are still very much alive, with Hasenhüttl’s side just three points off of ninth place Newcastle United.
It’s been a difficult run of games for Palace, who have suffered defeats at the hands of Leicester City, Chelsea and Newcastle before drawing with Leeds United on Monday.
Saints staged an impressive comeback in the reverse fixture back in December but with the spoils shared at Selhurst Park both sides will be looking to walk away with all three points in SO14.
TEAM NEWS
Hasenhüttl has confirmed that Tino Livramento will be out for the rest of 2022 after suffering a devastating ACL injury last time out at Brighton.
Other than the youngster, Saints have a fully fit squad heading into Saturday’s showdown.
Luka Milivojevic and Tyrick Mitchell could return for the visitors, while Nathan Ferguson remains out of contention.
THE MANAGERS
Ralph Hasenhüttl: "They were never easy to play against, the quality was always there. They maybe play a bit different now, building up from the back and there is a clear plan. You can see with the signing of the manager, there is something that has improved massively.”
Patrick Vieira: “It is important for players to understand if you want to build from what we have been doing, this is something that has to be consistent. I’m not going to accept players giving up in games. This is not who we are as a football club.”
ONES TO WATCH
James Ward-Prowse: The captain is enjoying his best ever scoring season in the Premier League but with only one of those goals coming at St Mary’s, he’ll be looking to net in front of a home crowd on Saturday.
Jean-Philippe Mateta: A consistent force for Palace, the visitors have won 50% of their games in all competitions when the striker has started this season, compared to just 17% when he doesn’t.
TOP SCORERS:
Southampton:
Goals:
James Ward-Prowse 10
Armando Broja 9
Elyounoussi, Adams 8
Assists:
James Ward-Prowse 7
Nathan Redmond 6
Elyounoussi, Walker-Peters 4
Crystal Palace:
Goals:
Wilfried Zaha 12
Conor Gallagher 8
Édouard, Mateta 6
Assists:
Michael Olise 8
Conor Gallagher 5
Édouard, Ayew, Andersen 3
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 113
Saints: 48
Draws: 25
Palace: 40
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
December 2021: Palace 2-2 Saints (Ward-Prowse, Broja)
May 2021: Saints 3-1 Palace (Ings, Adams)
September 2020: Palace 1-0 Saints
January 2020: Palace 0-2 Saints (Redmond, Armstrong)
December 2019: Saints 1-1 Palace (Ings)
DID YOU KNOW?
- Southampton have won 56% of their 25 Premier League games against Crystal Palace (W14 D7 L4) – of all sides they’ve faced at least 10 times in the competition, only against Swansea (58%) do they have a higher win rate.
- Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse has scored more goals from outside the box than any other player in the Premier League this season (5), with only Matt Le Tissier ever netting more in a single season for Saints (7 in 1993-94, 8 in 1994-95). Four of these goals have been from direct free-kicks, with only David Beckham in 2000-01 and Laurent Robert in 2001-02 (both 5) netting more in a single Premier League campaign.
KEEP UP TO DATE
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