Date: Saturday 11th, January Venue: St Mary's Stadium Kick-Off: 15:00 GMT Can Southampton do the double over West Brom in revenge of last season's meetings? The big news in the build-up to this match has been the appointment of Pepe Mel as head coach of West Brom after weeks of negotiation between the two parties - speculation suggests that initially Mel did not want to work with the current backroom staff at the Midlands club. And it has not taken long for the comparisons to begin between Mel and Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino. Both managers are renowned for playing attacking, high-intensity football and both have had similar track records in Spain, helping their respective punch above their weight, before poor runs saw them lose their job respectively. The Baggies will be hoping to that appoint of Mel can have a similar effect to that of Pochettino, who has helped Southampton's rise into the top-half of the table, and his presence can inspire his new team to victory, although he will only be in the director's box, with Keith Downing taking charge for one last time. In last season's meetings between the two teams West Brom comfortably beat the South Coast team on both occasions to 2-0 and 3-0 victories. In this season's opening game it was a Rickie Lambert penalty which separated the two teams, where the Saints won 1-0, and will be hoping to do the double over the Baggies this season. Also, the two teams have experienced a dip in form recently and will hope the encounter will reinvigorate their seasons in hope of a top 8 finish.
Team News
The fitness of Artur Boruc will be assessed before the game after the Polish goalkeeper suffered a fractured hand. Dani Osvaldo is currently serving a 3-match suspension after being charged with violent conduct. Victor Wanyama is still to recover from the stress-fracture to the leg. Rickie Lambert and Gaston Ramirez both picked up knocks in the 4-3 triumph over Burnley however, both should be available for selection at the weekend. Caretaker head coach Keith Downing will take charge for his last game before handing over the helms to newly-appointed head coach Pepe Mel. Downing will be without full-backs Billy Jones and Goran Popov. Youssouf Mulumbu and Victor Anichebe resumed training this week but Saturday's game appears to have come too soon for the pair.
Match Facts
Southampton Southampton have the second best possession stat in the Premiership this season (57.3%) Since the start of last season, Rickie Lambert has scored 21 league goals, Wayne Rooney is the only Englishman who can match that total. Southampton are without a clean-sheet in 5 home matches, having kept 4 beforehand. West Bromwich Albion The Baggies are unbeaten since Steve Clarke's sacking winning 1 and drawing 3. The win over Newcastle one New Year's Day was their first triumph in 10 games. West Brom have only won once away this season, the sole victory coming at Old Trafford. General When the two teams last meet at St. Mary's 3 red cards where shown in the space of 12 second-half minutes (Ramirez, Fortune, Fox) West Brom have only conceded 1 goal in 4 meetings against Southampton, the only goal for the Saints coming in this season's reverse fixture where Southampton won 1-0. In-form Adam Lallana's first professional goal came against West Brom in the Championship, April 2008.
Recent Form
Southampton - DDLWLL West Bromwich Albion - LLDDDW
Likely Line-Ups
Southampton (4231) - K. Davis: Clyne, Fonte, Lovren, Shaw: Cork, Schneiderlin: Davis, Lallana, Rodriguez: Lambert West Bromwich Albion (433) - Foster: Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell: Yacob, Brunt, Morrison: Sessegnon, Anelka, Berahino Prediction: Southampton 2-1 West Brom source - bbc football
18 years old. Southampton FC season ticket holder. Keen writer and love sharing my opinions with others. Looking to gain experience before starting a Sports Journalism course at university in 2014.
