Southampton V Tottenham Hotspur The Preview Saturday, 18th Mar 2023 07:45 After the abysmal defeat to Brentford, Saints have undone some of the good work that they have achieved over the past few weeks, but it is every game as it comes and there will be more setbacks along the way. Saints have to put the disappointment of Wednesday night behind them and go again for the visit of Spurs, who themselves are looking to stay in the top four and win a Champions League spot for next season. However that does not seem to be good enough for Spurs fans and perhaps as we may find out going forward their board and Antonio Conte had a lot of stick after they departed from Europe last week. The rumour is that he is not the man for Spurs and he could soon be on his way, if not now but certainly at the end of the season. Their form has been patchy of late both in the Premier League where they lost to Wolves and the FA Cup where Sheffield United sent them packing. The feeling is that all is not well in the Spurs camp and that the motivation is gone in the dressing room. Bizarrely I felt before the Brentford game that we had a better chance of beating Spurs than the Bees, we usually struggle against those teams who sit back and go on the break, but Spurs are a side that like to attack and if we can keep things tight then we could get something and God knows we need it. But keeping it tight will not be easy, on Wednesday night once again we let a man run off his marker and have a free header, this time it didn't go in but flicked across goal for Ivan Toney to stab it home, but it was just as poor a defensive error than the number of other goals we have gifted from free headers. The good news is that Kyle Walker Peters could play some point, I think he may be held back on the bench, but if he is going to start, the back four that won us games was Maitland-Niles at right back and KWP at left and I would go for that. In the centre of midfield I would hope that Romeo Lavia returns, some ranted that Diallo was poor on Wednesday, but I disagree, he did what he was in the side for and battled their midfield, won the ball and laid it short, but you have to play your best men and Lavia is better than Diallo. Likewise Moi Elyounoussi,, he did little on Wednesday and there should be a change there, but should it be Theo Walcott who returns or Stuart Armstrong, even Adam Armstrong, who seems to get judged on his goals, but is not played in a striking role these days. Personally my team is Bazunu Maitland Niles, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, KWP(or Perraud if injured) Walcott, Lavia, Ward Prowse. Sulemana Alcatraz Adams There will of course be some familiar faces in the Spurs side, Fraser Forster returns to St Mary's after leaving last summer after 8 years at the club playing 134 Premier League games, that doesn't sound a great total but with a long period out through injury and a couple of seasons out on loan, it was a decent amount and he played a good part in taking us to 7th, 6th & 8th in the League plus two Europa League campaigns and a League cup semi final. He should therefore be given a warm welcome and i hope he gets it from the Saints fans. One man who perhaps shouldn't get such a round of applause is Pierre Emille Hojbjerg, who left under a bit of a cloud, after appearing to be tapped up by Spurs, that was a big surprise to no one and he has fared well in Noerth London. Hojbjerg spent 4 years at St Mary's and started 94Premier League games plus another 15 as sub, so far at Spurs he has started exactly 100 games with no appearances off the bench. So he is very much a Spurs player now and we owe him nothing for the way he and for that matter Spurs behaved. Saints really need this win, they need everyone behind them and hopefully make it one of those special days at St Mary's Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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