Match Pack: Saints vs Crystal Palace

THE MATCH

Southampton vs Crystal Palace
Premier League
St Mary’s Stadium
Wednesday 30th January, 7.45pm GMT

THE OFFICIALS

Referee: Andre Marriner
Assistants: Simon Long, Sian Massey-Ellis
Fourth official: Lee Probert

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Saints go into this one chasing their third Premier League victory in a row, something which has not been achieved since the end of the 2015/16 campaign. Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men secured a 2-1 over Everton last time out at St Mary’s, with a goal from James Ward-Prowse and a Lucas Digne own goal.

The hosts have won eight of their last 10 top-flight meetings with Palace, but having won last season’s meeting between the two sides, the Eagles will be hoping to record back-to-back top-flight away wins against Southampton for the first time.

Roy Hodgson’s side are fresh off the back of a 2-0 Emirates FA Cup victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park.

TEAM NEWS

Southampton: Ralph Hasenhüttl says Ryan Bertrand is edging closer to a return to action, while Matt Targett should be available after a knee injury. There are further absentees as Mario Lemina remains sidelined with a stomach issue and Charlie Austin continues recovering from a swollen ankle. A late assessment will be made on young defender Kayne Ramsay after illness.

“It has been a strange week for our schedule not having a fixture at the weekend but we trained very intensively in that time and had a good opportunity to look at the whole squad.”

Crystal Palace: Roy Hodgson has all of his senior goalkeepers back fit, with Wayne Hennessey and Vicente Guaita returning from injury and Julian Speroni's display against Tottenham giving him food for thought.

Connor Wickham, Christian Benteke and Jordan Ayew have all returned to fitness, while the signing of Bakary Sako from West Brom adds to their options.

FORM GUIDE

Southampton’s last five:

Everton (h) W 2-1
Derby (h) D 2-2 (3-5 on pens) (FA Cup) (Armstrong, Redmond)
Leicester (a) W 2-1 (Ward-Prowse, Long)
Derby (a) D 2-2 (FA Cup) (Redmond 2)
Chelsea (a) D 0-0

Crystal Palace’s last five:

Tottenham (h) W 2-0 (FA Cup)
Liverpool (a) L 4-3
Watford (a) L 2-1
Grimsby Town (h) W 1-0
Wolves (a) W 2-0

THE MANAGERS

Ralph Hasenhüttl: “We had a good week, but it's only training, and now we have to show on Wednesday that we are prepared and that the guys see we are prepared in the right way.

"We have worked on all areas of our game – winning the ball, transitioning after losing the ball, playing with the ball. Also set-pieces were an important part of our week. We still have a session on Tuesday to go and then on Wednesday evening we have to show we have the quality to win this game."

Roy Hodgson: "One has to be impressed watching them play, with their energy. I'm more than happy to congratulate Hasenhüttl on the job he's been doing.

"It's too early to talk about 6-pointer games. I think you have to keep your powder dry until later in the season for that type of talk."

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

All-time record:

Played: 86
Southampton: 42
Draws: 16
Crystal Palace: 28

Previous five meetings:

September 2018: Crystal Palace 0-2 Saints (Ings, Højbjerg)
January 2018: Saints 1-2 Crystal Palace (Long)
September 2017: Crystal Palace 0-1 Saints (Davis)
April 2017: Southampton 3-1 Crystal Palace (Redmond, Yoshida, Ward-Prowse)
December 2016: Crystal Palace 3-0 Southampton

DID YOU KNOW?

- 59% of Southampton’s 22 points this season have come in their eight games under manager Ralph Hasenhüttl (W4 D1 L3)

- Southampton have only won more Premier League games against Newcastle (15) than they have against Crystal Palace (12).

NOT AT THE GAME?

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