MY ACCOUNT
– Southampton have lost eight of their last nine Premier League games
– Wolves have won five and drawn one of last six league games with Southampton
– Wolves have enjoyed three straight wins at St Mary’s
– Recommended bet: Wolves to win
Having picked Wolves to get a positive result against Liverpool as well as predicting Southampton to lose with Over 1.5 Goals in their match, Simon Barlow is back for more with his best bet for the pair’s clash at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Wolves can move further clear of the relegation zone and drop Southampton further into the mire when they take on the Premier League’s basement club at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.
Julen Lopetegui, who has dragged the Molineux club out of the bottom three since his arrival in November, oversaw an impressive 3-0 home win over Liverpool last Saturday that has left the Old Gold half of the Black Country buzzing.
His Saints counterpart, Nathan Jones, was appointed five days after the Spaniard but he has yet to see his work in the transfer market or on the training ground bear anything like the same amount of fruit.
There were some worried expressions on the Southampton side of the directors’ box after the team’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford last Saturday and the importance to the club, and Jones, of picking up three points this weekend cannot be overstated.
Team news
Jones promised to stop compromising his principles after the loss at Gtech Community Stadium, which suggests a number of changes could be in the offing this weekend.
Neither of Southampton’s Croatian international players, Duje Caleta-Car and Mislav Orsic, featured in London amid rumours of some dressing room unrest.
They instead joined Armel Bella-Kotchap and Moussa Djenepo in playing for Southampton’s B team less than 24 hours before the Premier League game.
Lyanco, Adam Armstrong, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Aribo will be hoping to earn recalls while new signings Carlos Alcaraz, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Paul Onuachu, who all came off the bench at Brentford, may be handed starting berths.
Saturday’s game comes too soon for Juan Larios, while Kyle Walker-Peters and Stuart Armstrong are closer to a return but remain doubtful.
For Wolves, Lopetegui will want to stick as close to the lineup that performed so well against Liverpool, but Hee Chan Hwang is unavailable.
The South Korean star is set for a spell on the sidelines after picking up an apparent hamstring injury last weekend.
Adama Traore replaced him before the break and is at the front of the queue of potential replacements, just ahead of Pablo Sarabia and Daniel Podence.
Mario Lemina, who was seen holding an ice pack to his ankle after limping off against Liverpool, has been spotted back in training this week.
The stats
Southampton have been trailing at half-time in 13 of their 21 games so far in this Premier League season — more than any other team.
Wolves have won five and drawn one of their last six Premier League meetings with Southampton, leaving St Mary’s with all three points on their last three visits.
Last Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool was the first time Wolves had scored more than two goals since their 4-0 win over Watford on 10 March 2022, 37 games ago.
The men from Molineux have conceded only six goals since Lopetegui took charge in November, the same number as Arsenal and Manchester United across that period.
Prediction
Southampton fans have made their mind up about Nathan Jones and it may take one more defeat for the board that appointed the ex-Luton boss to decide he was the wrong choice to succeed Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Aside from the phenomenal Carabao Cup win over Manchester City and a second-half comeback at Everton, the Welshman has been unable to harness the Saints squad into anything resembling a half-decent Premier League side.
The pressure is well and truly on after last weekend’s dismal showing at Brentford and Jones’ post-match comments suggest he is going to make drastic changes.
It all contrasts with the feeling of progress being made by Julen Lopetegui in Wolverhampton as the Spaniard brings his side to a stadium where they usually take all three points.
Wolves were great against Liverpool last week, defending their 2-0 lead tigerishly before executing a classic fast-break to get a third goal.
The January signings are settling in well and another hard-working display like the one they produced at Molineux last week will be enough to beat the suffering Saints.
