Southampton v Sunderland
Saturday 27 August
St Mary’s Stadium
Premier League
3pm
Southampton
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster will face Sunderland on Saturday. The England international, who started his career with Newcastle United, rose to prominence with Celtic after failing to make a first-team appearance at St James’ Park, holding the SPL record for most minutes (1,256) without conceding a goal. After winning three league titles and two Scottish Cups the ‘keeper moved to Southampton in August 2014, and he impressed before a knee injury in March 2015 ruled him out until January 2016. A return action was followed by a return to form and he went on to set a club record of 208 minutes without conceding as Southampton sealed European football. Alex McCarthy, 26, signed for Saints earlier this month providing competition and back-up to Forster.
Defence: Southampton’s defence contains two Euro 2016 winners – Jose Fonte and Cedric Soares – and both are expected to feature against the Black Cats. The duo featured as Portugal defeated France in the showpiece final with captain Fonte, who has made over 250 for Saints, linked with a move to Manchester United and Arsenal in the current transfer window. Cedric, 24, signed from Sporting CP in 2015 making 24 league appearances during his debut campaign. Maya Yoshida and Matt Targett have both featured in the Premier League this season with Ryan Bertrand pushing for a recall after missing the start of the campaign due to injury. Sunderland fans will also remember Virgil van Dijk who netted a late equaliser in last season’s fixture at St Mary’s.
Midfield: Steven Davis, Oriol Romeu, Dusan Tadic, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Nathan Redmond have played prominent roles during the early stages of the 2015-16 season. Davis, 31, is now in his fifth season with the club and he led Northern Ireland during their impressive Euro 2016 campaign, with Romeu aiming to build on a steady first year with Saints after moving from Chelsea in 2015. Hojbjerg is certainly one to watch with big things expected from the midfielder following a summer move from Bayern Munich, and the same can be said of England under-21 winger Redmond who scored on his debut against Watford. Tadic loves to get forward and will pose a constant threat scoring 12 goals in 66 leagues appearances during his first two years at St Mary’s.
Attack: Southampton lost Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and Jaunmi during the summer but their attacking options are far from depleted. Shane Long – international team-mate of John O’Shea – has led the line during the opening stages of the season, with Charlie Austin coming off the bench during both games. Long has netted 20 goals in 73 appearances for Saints with Austin aiming to kick on following a January move from QPR, with Jay Rodriguez set to leave the club on loan after Saints reportedly agreed a deal to sign Sofiane Boufal from Lille.
Manager: Southampton were forced into a managerial change during the summer after Everton snapped up Ronald Koeman, with Claude Puel moving to St Mary’s following a four-year spell with Nice. The former Monaco midfielder made over 500 appearances for the club as a player winning two league titles and three French Cups, with a move into management with the principality club coming in 1999. He won the league title during his first season before moving to Lille where he spent six years, with spells with Lyon and Nice preceding his arrival on the south coast.
Team news
Southampton
Ryan Bertrand will be assessed on Friday but Oriol Romeu is available for selection.
Sunderland
Seb Larsson, Lee Cattermole and Jan Kirchhoff are once again unavailable.
A further update on players including Fabio Borini, John O’Shea and Vito Mannone will be on safc.com on Friday morning following David Moyes’ press conference.
Last time out
Manchester United 2-0 Southampton
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice on his home debut as Manchester United claimed a comfortable Premier League win over Southampton at Old Trafford.
The Swedish striker headed home Wayne Rooney's cross from the right.
He scored from the penalty spot after Jordy Clasie tripped Luke Shaw, his third goal in two league games since joining on a free transfer this summer.
Sunderland 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
Adnan Januzaj’s late stunner sent Sunderland into the third round of the EFL Cup as a spirited Shrewsbury Town were dispatched on Wearside.
Sunderland dominated the early stages camping inside enemy territory for large parts of the game, but they were unable to break down the resilient visitors who admirably stuck to their task.
Ivan Toney mustered the visitors’ best opportunity but Jordan Pickford was equal to the striker’s fierce shot, and with time ticking down both sides were in desperate need of a hero.
Sunderland found one.
With seven minutes remaining Januzaj decided enough was enough and the wing wizard sent an unstoppable drive into the net, fittingly handing David Moyes his first win on Wearside.
Form (2016-17 only)
Sunderland: LLW
Southampton: LL
Match betting odds with Dafabet
Jermain Defoe to score first now 10/1 (was 8/1)
Adnan Januzaj to score anytime now 9/2 (was 15/4)
Sunderland to win and under 2.50 goals now 11/1 (was 17/2)
Sunderland to win and both teams to score now 14/1 (was 12/1)
Visit Dafabet’s official website for more odds
Odds are correct at time of publishing and are subject to change. T&C’s apply. Please gamble responsibly. 18+
