Match Pack: Saints vs Birmingham
Southampton return home for the first instalment of a St Mary’s doubleheader, as League One champions Birmingham City provide the opposition in the Sky Bet Championship.
THE MATCH
Southampton vs Birmingham City
Sky Bet Championship
St Mary’s Stadium
Saturday 6th December, 3pm GMT
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: David Webb
Assistants: Matthew Wilkes, Carl Fitch-Jackson
Fourth official: Harry Wager
THE KITS
Both teams will wear their traditional colours for the game, with Birmingham in their all-blue home strip.
TICKETS
A limited number of tickets remain on general sale for fans to buy. Prices start from £30 for Adults and £20 for Juniors.
LIVE COVERAGE
For those unable to make it to St Mary's, Saints Play match passes are available to supporters outside the UK.
THE PROGRAMME
The matchday programme is available to order online, as well as from the various sellers around St Mary’s.
This special edition covers not only Saturday’s meeting with Birmingham, but also Tuesday’s home clash with West Brom, and will be sold at the stadium on both matchdays.
Popular former Saint Morgan Schneiderlin recalls some of the most memorable moments from his career as he tackles our A-Z of Football feature, while you can also find Tonda Eckert’s programme notes and everything you need to know about both of our upcoming visitors.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Saints’ four-match winning streak came to an end at Millwall last time out, leaving Tonda Eckert’s side unable to catch Birmingham, who hold a four-point advantage over their hosts ahead of Saturday’s game.
But only eight of Birmingham’s 28 points have been picked up away from home. Blues have the second-best home record in the Championship, but only three teams have picked up less points on the road.
With Birmingham sitting on the edge of the play-offs in eighth, Saints will hope to close the gap to stay in touch with the top six, and showcase the same attacking threat that has seen them average three goals a game since Eckert took the reins as interim boss.
TEAM NEWS
Saints: Shea Charles returned to first-team training on Friday, but the game is likely to come too soon for the midfielder to be involved.
Flynn Downes is available again after serving a one-match ban and Oriol Romeu stepped up his match fitness with a 45-minute appearance for Saints Under-21s against Monaco in midweek, but Mads Roerslev, Elias Jelert and Ross Stewart remain sidelined.
Samuel Edozie and Leo Scienza have also been back in training this week, while Damion Downs is “not at 100 per cent yet” according to his manager.
Birmingham: The visitors can welcome back Tomoki Iwata from suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the derby game against West Brom.
Scott Wright has recently returned to training, but it is unlikely he will have a part to play. Ethan Laird remains out with a hamstring injury, and Lee Buchanan is still on the road to recovery after a serious knee injury suffered last season.
THE MANAGERS
Tonda Eckert: “We need to be steady and consistent in some of the things we do. What I really liked [against Millwall] is that the team went to play and to win a game a football, even in the 88th minute. Watching the game over I think there are a lot of things we can build on.
"Birmingham are very well organised, with an excellent manager. If you look at last season, to get promoted with 111 points is outstanding. But we are Southampton, we play at St Mary’s, and we will do everything we can to win the game tomorrow.”
Chris Davies: “We are needing to improve our results away from home, but we’ve shown we can get points on the road. You’re talking about one of the best teams in the league (Saints). I’ve watched them play, they are good, and we are going to have to be good ourselves.
“They have quality players, but we also have that. It’s going to be a big test for us, one that I know the players are looking forward to. One of the bigger away games you will play in this league, and we are looking forward to the match.”
ONES TO WATCH
Leo Scienza: The Brazilian sat out Saints’ first defeat in five games last weekend, but has since returned to training and will be an option again on Saturday.
Scienza’s creativity and directness has played a key role in some scintillating Saints counter-attacking in recent weeks, so to have the fans’ favourite available again comes as a big boost.
Jay Stansfield: Only three players in the division have eclipsed Stansfield’s tally of eight Championship goals so far this season.
The striker also has an impressive record against Saints – he scored in both league meetings two seasons ago, as Saints triumphed 3-1 at St Mary’s and 4-3, in thrilling fashion, at St Andrew’s.
TOP PERFORMERS
Saints
Goals:
Armstrong 7
Azaz 5
Manning, Harwood-Bellis 3
Assists:
Armstrong, Manning 3
Fraser, Fellows 2
Twelve players 1
Birmingham
Goals:
Stansfield 9
Gray, Seung-Ho 4
Ducksch 3
Assists:
Gray 4
Stansfield, Cochrane 3
Doyle, Roberts 2
FORM GUIDE
Saints
Millwall (a) SBC: L 2-3 (Armstrong pen, Azaz)
Leicester (h) SBC: W 3-0 (Harwood-Bellis 2, Azaz)
Charlton (a) SBC: W 5-1 (Manning, Armstrong, Jander, Azaz 2)
Sheff Wed (h) SBC W 3-1 (Jander, Azaz, Armstrong)
QPR (a) SBC: W 2-1 (Robinson, Scienza)
Birmingham
Watford (h) SBC: W 2-1 (Seung-Ho, Gray)
West Brom (a) SBC: D 1-1 (Ducksch)
Norwich (h) SBC: W 4-1 (Ducksch 2, Stansfield 2)
Middlesbrough (a) SBC: L 1-2 (Gray)
Millwall (h) SBC: W 4-0 (Seung-Ho, Gray, Cochrane, Stansfield)
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 50
Saints wins: 22
Draws: 11
Birmingham wins: 17
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Mar 2024: Birmingham 3-4 Saints Championship (Armstrong, Brooks, Adams, Aribo)
Oct 2023: Saints 3-1 Birmingham Championship (Harwood-Bellis, Alcaraz, Armstrong)
Feb 2012: Birmingham 0-0 Saints Championship
Sep 2011: Saints 4-1 Birmingham Championship (Lambert pen, Guly, Lallana, Chaplow)
Aug 2009: Saints 1-2 Birmingham League Cup second round (Lallana)
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A limited number of Men's Half Season Tickets are now available. Don't miss a minute of the action across the second half of the season, beginning with the visit of Hull City to St Mary's in January, with prices starting from around £21 per match.
