Southampton will climb above Spurs into eighth place in the Premier League table with a win at St Mary's in the first of two Sunday matches. Hotspur meanwhile are looking to bounce back after successive defeats in all competitions. Tim Sherwood remains in caretaker charge of Tottenham after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked this week. Gareth Bale, who has since been sold to Real Madrid, came back to haunt the Saints as he scored in Hotspur colours in a 2-1 win in the corresponding fixture last season. Spurs have won three of the last four meetings and historically had the better of these encounters. Nigel Quashie was the player that gave Southampton their last win over Tottenham in March 2005, but the team went on to be relegated on the final day of the season.
Team News
Mauricio Pochettino could bring fullback Nathaniel Clyne and skipper Adam Lallana back into the Saints starting XI after injuries. Clyne is back in training after a hamstring problem and faces a fitness test. Lallana meanwhile began Southampton's last outing at Newcastle as a substitute. Tottenham are still short in defence as Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen remain sidelined, but club captain Michael Dawson is back from a ban. Winger Andros Townsend will miss this trip, however, with a hamstring injury. Box-to-box midfielder Paulinho is serving the second game of a three-match ban. Source: BBC
Likely Line-Ups
Southampton: 25 Paulo Gazzaniga, 2 Nathaniel Clyne, 5 Dejan Lovren, 6 Jose Fonte, 23 Luke Shaw, 16 James Ward-Prowse, 4 Morgan Schneiderlin, 20 Adam Lallana, 17 Dani Osvaldo, 9 Jay Rodriguez, 7 Rickie Lambert 4-2-3-1 Spurs: 25 Hugo Lloris, 2 Kyle Walker, 20 Michael Dawson, 6 Vlad Chiriches, 3 Danny Rose, 7 Aaron Lennon, 15 Etienne Capoue, 19 Mousa Dembele/23 Christian Eriksen, 11 Erik Lamela/22 Gylfi Sigurdsson, 10 Emmanuel Adebayor, 9 Roberto Soldado/18 Jermain Defoe 4-4-2
Jamie Clark is a qualified Web Journalist after undergoing professional training at the University of Sheffield. A prolific and accredited sports writer, he also enjoys classic comedy, historic fiction, 80s music and heritage.
