Football – England – Premier League
Sunday 1st February 2015 – Kickoff: 1600hrs
Fourth placed Southampton head into this afternoons clash with mid-table Swansea City on the back of some fine performances (and results) which sees the south coast club enjoying a six-match unbeaten run in the top flight.
Southampton have actually won five of these six with solid wins over Everton, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Manchester United (at Old Trafford) and Newcastle United, along with holding Premier League leaders Chelsea to a very creditable 1-1 draw at St Marys Stadium.
The Saints once again have home advantage for todays encounter where they hold an overall record of 7-2-2 24/7 and they have kept a total of seven clean sheets to date which is no mean feat at this level.
Potential anytime goalscorers for Saints look to be their leading goalscorer and striker Pelle, along with creative midfielders Tadic and Elia. Defender Yoshida may return to the squad, but Wanyama (injured) and Mane (travelling) look set to miss out.
Visitors Swansea City have once again defied the critics and continued to punch above their weight in England’s top flight, but with the recent departure of leading goalscorer and striker Bony to Manchester City along with the suspension of forward Gylfi Sigurdsson, The Swans may struggle to keep pace with a lively and energetic Saints outfit this afternoon.
A run of four matches without a league win will be a nagging statistic for manager Garry Monk who has done a fantastic job at the Liberty Stadium, and while the bank balance has been given a healthy boost by the sale of Bony, Monk now needs to stir his troops once again in order to negate further slippage down the table.
Recent heavy defeats to Liverpool 4-1 and Chelsea 5-0 will have dented confidence although they did get a point off QPR and West Ham in-between. Swansea’s main problem though has been their results on the road where they hold an overall record of 2-3-5 10/17 with just one away win from their last nine (at third from bottom club Hull City just before Christmas).
To wrap up, Saints are in good form right now and given Swansea’s recent slump in form and depleted attacking personnel, I’ll back the hosts to grab the points in perhaps a low-scoring 1-0 win.
Pick: Southampton straight win @ 1.62 Ladbrokes
