With both sides at opposite ends of the nine-team Premier League relegation dogfight, Southampton host a revitalised Crystal Palace at St Mary's on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints were put to the sword 4-1 by Manchester City last weekend, while Roy Hodgson's men overpowered and outclassed Leeds United in a 5-1 demolition job.

Match preview

Barring a brief period of first-half promise and a well-taken Sekou Mara consolation, Southampton were simply no match for the end-of-season Man City juggernaut, as Ruben Selles's men shipped four to the champions in their top vs. bottom battle.

An Erling Braut Haaland header on the stroke of half time allowed the floodgates to open for the second 45, where the scintillating Scandinavian bagged his second alongside strikes from Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez - the latter of whom scored from the spot just three minutes after Mara had restored some pride for the hosts.

Southampton's Premier League destiny will not hinge on results against the title contenders, but a third defeat from four games has left the Saints rooted to 20th place and four points adrift of safety with eight games left to go, but many a twist and turn will be thrown up between now and the final whistle in gameweek 38.

While Saints fans will be glued to the table and calculating all possible permutations for the next few weeks, Selles has insisted that he will not "waste time" peering at the standings as he endeavours to snap Southampton's five-game winless run in the Premier League, during which the hosts have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last four.

Such a statistic is hardly reassuring against a Crystal Palace side who have suddenly found their shooting boots, and Southampton could lose 10 Premier League home games in a single season for just the third time. However, on the two previous occasions where St Mary's defeats hit double figures - 1993-94 and 2019-20 - the Saints avoided relegation each time.

No Wilfried Zaha? No problem for Crystal Palace, and in particular Michael Olise, who wrote his name into the Premier League's history books with an exemplary playmaking performance to subject Leeds to an Elland Road trouncing.

Becoming the youngest player in Premier League history to set up three goals from open play in a single game, Olise pulled the strings as Palace fought back from Patrick Bamford's opener with a glut of goals from Jordan Ayew (2), Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Odsonne Edouard.

Proving just how powerful the new manager bounce can be - especially when taking into account their prolonged profligacy during the final days of Patrick Vieira - Palace are 'leading' the basement battle in a sense, sitting in 12th place and six points clear of the relegation zone.

Safety is far from assured for the Eagles, but there should be no concerns on the survival front if they can maintain their astounding attacking form, and Hodgson was the man in the dugout when Palace last won three Premier League games in a row in 2019-20.

James Ward-Prowse was up to his usual free-kick tricks when Southampton beat Palace 2-1 in January's FA Cup third-round match, but the Eagles are unbeaten in three Premier League games against the Saints and are out to record back-to-back wins at St Mary's for the first time ever.

Team News

Injury was added to insult in Southampton's defeat to Man City, as talented teenage midfielder Romeo Lavia came off with a "tight hamstring" according to Selles, but the 19-year-old has made a rapid return to training and could feature in some capacity.

Juan Larios (thigh) and Valentino Livramento (fitness) remain sidelined for the hosts, who must also cope without Mohammed Salisu and Che Adams (calf) after both players missed the defeat to Man City - the latter's absence saw Carlos Alcaraz deployed as a false nine - while Mislav Orsic (hip) has also joined the absentee list.

However, Mara's goal off the bench against City could push Alcaraz back into a midfield role, while fellow substitute Moussa Djenepo jinked his way through challenges to set up Mara and could potentially threaten Kamaldeen Sulemana or Mohamed Elyounoussi's spot in the XI.

Similarly, Palace also left their win over Leeds with a new face in the treatment room, as Edouard was forced off with an ankle problem in the latter exchanges, but Hodgson revealed in his pre-game press conference that the ex-Celtic man would be fine for this one.

Zaha (groin) and Vicente Guaita (calf) are facing another couple of weeks on the sidelines - they have also been joined by Nathaniel Clyne (knee) - while Nathan Ferguson will not be considered for selection just yet either, but Chris Richards trained prior to the Leeds win and may be able to force his way into the squad.

Should Edouard prove his fitness, Hodgson will be loath to alter a winning formula, as Ayew seeks to become the first Ghanaian player to hit 50 Premier League goal contributions - the 31-year-old has 32 strikes and 17 assists to his name so far.

Southampton possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud; Diallo, Ward-Prowse; Walcott, Alcaraz, Sulemana; Mara

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Schlupp, Doucoure, Eze; Olise, Edouard, Ayew

We say: Southampton 1-3 Crystal Palace

Even if Southampton can draw first blood on the South Coast, Palace are the masters at overcoming in-game adversity - gleaning a league-high 20 points from losing positions this term and coming from behind to win in both games under Hodgson so far.

The Saints can feel optimistic of nicking the odd goal, but a merciless Palace attack will no doubt take advantage of any uncertainty over Lavia's fitness, and we can only back the Eagles to continue their purple patch with a third win on the bounce.


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