Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Southampton could welcome back top scorer Graziano Pelle, who has been sidelined since Christmas with a knee injury.
Midfielder Victor Wanyama serves the final game of his two-match ban.
Watford’s top scorer Odion Ighalo is set to be restored to the starting line-up after being on the bench for the FA Cup win over Newcastle.
Defender Nathan Ake completes a three-match ban, which he received for a straight red card against Tottenham.
Editor’s Note: It’s fair to say Southampton are in somewhat of a slump as of late only 1 win in their last 8 league matches and also dumped out of the Cup by Premier League rivals Crystal Palace you can then understand why Ronald Koeman seems to be getting more and more angry in his post match press conferences.
The only high spot of this slump was their masterful 4-0 win over Arsenal on Boxing Day, but with two more league and the aforementioned cup defeat since that Christmas cracker seems so far away for The South Coast outfit. Can Koeman arrest the slide Tonight as they play host to Watford.
Looking at Watford’s Christmas Fixtures of Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City you could probably forgive them for only getting 1 point from 9 but they were incredibly unfortunate to be defeated late on in both the Tottenham and Manchester City matches.
They currently find themselves 9th in the Premier League but a first win in 4 matches tonight could see them move to 7th place. Odion Ighalo was rested at the weekend but he looks set to return and be reunited with strike partner Troy Deeney whose goal enabled them to beat Newcastle on Saturday and progress to the F.A. Cup 4th Round
As for Southampton they find themselves in 13th but if results go against them they could slide down to as low as 15th. If this run of form doesn’t improve soon they could find themselves in a relegation battle for the final third of the season.
It’s been a frustrating season for Southampton, the Arsenal game shows what they are capable of but those performances have been few and far between for Manager and Fans liking, I think right now they will just be grateful to return to winning ways.
Unfortunately for Southampton I don’t think that’s going to happen tonight. I think Watford are proving too much of a handful as of late and now they have got that dogged Xmas period behind them they will return to winning ways Tonight. An away win for me.
