Dan takes his usual look ahead of the game and for the final game of the season the opponents are Crystal palace and the stakes are massive.

Saints reach the last day of the season and there is so much to play for for, a win on Sunday will definitely result in a positive outcome with a little help from other teams. All Southampton fans, especially me, and football neutrals will expect Southampton to beat Crystal Palace and then us Saints fans have to play the waiting game with other results in the league coming through to decide where we finish and whether Southampton will qualify for Europe for the second year in a row.

Crystal Palace will definitely have all eyes on their FA Cup final against Manchester United next Saturday despite their final position in the Premier League not decided. There is a possibility that they will rest key players like Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha so Southampton really should beat them on Sunday.

With the new rules of European Qualification, 6th place will be enough for a place in next season’s Europa League Group Stage but if Saints finish 7th and Manchester United win the FA Cup then the Saints will qualify for the Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round. If Sunday doesn’t go to plan then 8th place could also bring Europa League Qualifiers to St. Mary’s in the Summer if Liverpool win the Europa League next year.

Most Saints fans will have one eye on Stoke’s game with West Ham because after okay results in midweek if West Ham fail to win at The Britannia and Southampton do beat Palace then Saints steal the 6th place finish. We can still finish 5th but I wouldn’t expect Bournemouth to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford but hey, if Leicester can win the league then Bournemouth can do us a favour!

My Prediction: 3-0

It’s a must win game on Sunday and after winning three on the trot, two against teams in the top four, we really should beat Palace. I think West Ham will draw at Stoke but an away win is very likely so we must win. A clean sheet seems to be the minds of the players after a ten match period without a clean sheet after the record-breaking six consecutive clean sheets between January and February.

My Team:

Forster, Cedric, van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand, Romeu, Wanyama, Tadic, Davis, Mane, Long

Koeman announced today that Jordy Clasie will miss the game with a groin injury picked up against Spurs last weekend so Romeu comes in for him. Long has impressed me more than Pelle this season, especially in the second half of the season, and he seems more like a goal scorer than Pelle. Cedric has always been my preferred right-back this season but Martina will likely start over the Portugese.

Photo: Action Images

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