Southampton vs Burnley – Premier League Match Preview

Dan Tracey November 4, 2017 Leave a comment 2,275 Views

If you were to look at the dictionary definition of ‘mid table’ right now then Southampton would have to be the shining example. Mauricio Pellegrino’s men currently find themselves 10th in the Premier League table and today they play host to high flying Burnley.

Now to be honest high flying Burnley is not a phrase that is often used in the football vernacular but it is one that is very apt as Sean Dyche‘s men currently sit very pretty in 7th place while making a mockery of many’s pre-season predictions for teams that would struggle.

Their could well be an interesting backdrop to today’s encounter at St Mary’s though, could this well be the last time that Sean Dyche takes charge of Burnley. It has been heavily rumoured that Everton are eyeing him up as their next manager and the international break would bring the perfect opportunity for a manager to defect.

It would be good timing for Everton but obviously awful timing for Burnley, if their worst case scenario was to happen then you would have to question whoever came into the Turf Moor hotseat just how well would they be able to continue this impressive start to the campaign.

Unfortunately for Burnley fans you would imagine that the only way post Dyche is down, but ultimately this is all still conjecture and of course for the time being the status quo remains with the Lancashire outfit with the focus being trying to earn all three points on the South Coast, you do wonder though just what a distraction it could be.

If it is to be a distraction then Southampton will look to take full advantage of it, a win for the Saints would see them leapfrog Burnley in the table and the Saints could be sitting as high as 7th in the table come the end of the day should other results go their way.

if that is to be the case then perhaps Mauricio Pellegrino may start getting the credit he deserves, after a slightly sluggish start to the season they momentum is now starting to shift, they are unbeaten in their last three matches and have picked up five points from a possible nine.

Should they go on to make it eight points from twelve they would become one of the league’s in form teams and although they have gone under the radar as of late a win today would certainly see them earn some more prominence from their footballing peers.

Last weekend saw them make the short trip to Brighton and they had to make do with a share of the points after Steven Davis’ early strike was cancelled out by the evergreen Glenn Murray, a draw especially when you consider Brighton’s solid home form was arguably the fair result at the end of the day.

But Southampton will look to use their home advantage today in a game which does not particularly offer up a visage of too many goals, both teams have only scored nine goals each – the lowest of all the teams in the top half of the table.

So whatever the outcome I think it is going to be a slender one and I think with the distraction surrounding Sean Dyche right now it might just mean Burnley are not at their sharpest and I think Southampton may well just nick this one by a single goal. Home win for me.

Here is what social media thinks will happen – you can still vote on the outcome