Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur 01/01/20

1 January 2020

Southampton will try to halt a two-game winless Premier League (PL) home streak when they entertain Tottenham Hotspur at St. Mary’s Stadium this week.

It’s been a roller-coaster season for Southampton so far, filled with many ups and downs, which is why they are currently hovering four points clear of the relegation zone. An unbeaten three-game sequence (W2, D1) has erased the hosts’ back-to-back PL defeats and has propelled them to 15th in the table. However, it will be a daunting prospect for Southampton to maintain that good run of form, as they take on a side they’ve lost to in five of their previous seven top-flight H2Hs (W1, D1, L5). Also, their indifferent home form in the past six PL home fixtures could be throwing a spanner in the works (W2, D1, L3), as well as the fact that the Saints have yet to keep a clean sheet at home this term. In fact, they have failed to shut out their opponents in 18 of 19 PL home outings this calendar year, conceding over 1.5 match goals on eight of those occasions.

Meanwhile, the visitors were held to a 2-2 away draw to Norwich last time out, which was Tottenham’s first competitive stalemate since Jose Mourinho took over the reins (W6, D1, L3). The Spurs’ main problem under the new manager is their inability to keep a blank sheet. They’ve have not only failed to shut out their opponents in nine of ten competitive games under Mourinho, but they’ve also shipped two or more goals in seven of those matches. The one consolation for the traveling fans is Tottenham’s free-scoring form lately, as the North Londoners have notched over 1.5 match goals in six of eight PL outings with Mourinho in charge, drawing a blank once in the other two.