JAKARTA - Sunday 15 December, at St. Mary's Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur who are struggling to get out of the winning period in the last five matches will travel to Southampton headquarters, the basic occupants of the Premier League standings. This match is an important moment for both teams who both want to achieve positive results amid great pressure.
Tottenham Hotspur are facing a performance crisis, with a winless record in the last five games in all competitions. In their last game in the Europa League, Spurs were only able to draw 1-1 against Rangers. Previously, they also had to admit Bournemouth and Chelsea's advantages in the Premier League.
On the other hand, Southampton are also not in better condition. A narrow 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last week extended their poor record this season, where they have only garnered five points from 15 matches. With only scoring 11 goals so far this season, Southampton became the team with the worst attack in the Premier League.
However, one interesting fact about this match is Southampton's record for a pretty good home against Spurs. In the last six meetings in St. Mary's, Southampton have only lost once. In addition, they have always managed to score in their last 15 meetings against Spurs in the Premier League their longest record against a team in this competition.
Southampton coach Russell Martin has some good news ahead of this match. Adam Lalana, Paul Onuachu, and Jan Bednarek are reportedly back in a play-ready condition after recovering from injury. However, Jack Stephens had to miss out on suspension, while Aaron Ramsdale, Will Smallbone, Juan Larios, Ross Stewart, and Gavin Bazunu were still on the list of injuries.
Bednarek is likely to go straight into the starting XI to replace James Bree, while Onuachu is expected to fill the attacking position to replace Cameron Archer.
Tottenham still lost many key players. Rodrigo Bentancur underwent a ban from playing in the last game from a five-match suspension. Yves Bissouma was also absent due to the accumulation of yellow cards following last week's hard fouls. Injuries also hit several major players such as Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Wilson Odobert, Total Moore, Richarlison, Ben Davies, and Guglielmo Vicario.
In this match, coach Ange Postecoglou is expected to rotate, including putting Dominic Solanke on the front lines replacing Timo Werner who performed poorly against Rangers. Lucas Bergvall is also likely to replace James Maddison who looks less impressive.
With both teams' poor form, this match will depend heavily on the effectiveness of each attack line. Tottenham have the advantages of players' quality on paper, but the absence of many key players and their poor form in away matches can be a big barrier. On the other hand, Southampton need to take advantage of their home support and positive history against Spurs in St. Mary's to steal points.
Spurs are expected to end their poor record, but not without a tough fight from Southampton
Estimated Lineup Of Players
Southampton (3-4-1-2): Lumley; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Bednarek, Manning; Downes, Fernandes; Dibling; Armstrong, Onuachu.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3):Forster; Spence, Gray, Dragusin, Udogie; Kulusevski, Sarr, Bergvall; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Score prediction: Southampton 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur.
