Match Pack: Saints vs Middlesbrough
Get game-ready for Southampton’s return to St Mary’s, as Saints host early season pacesetters Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship.
THE MATCH
Southampton vs Middlesbrough
Sky Bet Championship
St Mary’s Stadium
Saturday 27th September, 3pm BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Farai Hallam
Assistants: Andrew Fox, Bhupinder Singh Gill
Fourth official: Craig Hicks
THE KITS
Saints will, of course, wear our traditional home colours of red and white striped shirts, black shorts and white socks. Visitors Middlesbrough will be in their change strip, with navy and black striped shirts, black shorts and black socks.
TICKETS
The match is a Category A fixture and tickets remain on general sale, with Adult tickets priced from £30 and Under-18s from £20.
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.
Former Middlesbrough loanee Cameron Archer tackles our new A-Z of Football feature, while you can also find Will Still’s programme notes, the latest news from our Women’s and Academy teams, a healthy dose of nostalgia from our club historians and everything you need to know about the visitors.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
For Middlesbrough, their unbeaten league run is on the line, having started with five wins and a draw from their first six matches.
For Saints it represents an opportunity to make a statement for the first time since returning to the Championship and put a first blemish on Boro’s record.
Will Still was encouraged by what he saw in midweek at Anfield, albeit still frustrated by costly mistakes, but a win over the table toppers could kickstart Saints’ season.
The visitors will see it as an opportunity to make a statement of their own, and potentially extend their four-point lead at the summit.
TEAM NEWS
Will Still delivered a positive update at his pre-match press conference, saying he has a fully-fit squad to choose from.
There had been concerns over midfielder Caspar Jander, who was forced off in the second half at Anfield on Tuesday night, but the manager reported no issues.
Still did admit patience will be required with Welington, who has only recently returned to training, and revealed he has some tough decisions to make this weekend.
Middlesbrough will have George Edmundson available at St Mary’s, but the game will come too soon for Dael Fry to feature, and Darragh Lenihan is facing more weeks on the sidelines with a new Achilles injury.
THE MANAGERS
Will Still: “They (Middlesbrough) are playing very efficiently, they’re very well organised and well drilled. I’m fully aware of the choices that need to be made, and whoever deserves to play will play.
“We need to get the balance right of system, players in that system, who goes where and when. The players that we’ve got are quite adaptable, quite flexible.”
Rob Edwards: “They (Saints) haven’t got the results they would’ve wanted yet but some of the performances have been very good and they’ve been tight games, and for whatever reason things just haven’t quite gone their way.
“It will happen for them, they’ve got very good players. We’ve got to make sure we go and be the best versions of ourselves and make it difficult for them. Tomorrow, make no mistake, this will be a very difficult game.”
ONES TO WATCH
Adam Armstrong: Having got off the mark for the season at Hull last weekend, Armstrong was unlucky not to score a second goal in two games when his delicate chip struck the crossbar at Anfield on Tuesday night.
The striker scored in both meetings with Boro in Saints’ 2023/24 promotion-winning campaign, including an early opener in the 1-1 draw at St Mary’s.
Hayden Hackney: Homegrown midfielder Hackney was the subject of Premier League interest in the transfer window, but Boro stood firm to keep hold of their prized asset.
Head coach Rob Edwards is reaping the rewards, starting the all-action midfielder in every league game so far. A Euros winner with England Under-21s in the summer, Hackney has been a big part of Boro’s flying start.
TOP PERFORMERS
Saints
Goals:
Archer, Manning 2
Seven players 1
Assists:
Fraser 2
Seven players 1
Middlesbrough
Goals:
Conway 2
Eight players 1
Assists:
Hackney, Whittaker 2
Ayling, Conway, Morris, Targett 1
FORM GUIDE
Saints
Liverpool (a) CC3: L 1-2 (Charles)
Hull (a) SBC: L 1-3 (Armstrong)
Portsmouth (h) SBC: D 0-0
Watford (a) SBC: D 2-2 (Archer, Manning)
Norwich (a) CC2: W 3-0 (Archer, Fraser, Matsuki)
Middlesbrough
West Brom (h) SBC: W 2-1 (Strelec, Sène)
Preston (a) SBC: D 2-2 (Targett, Hansen)
Sheff Utd (h) SBC: W 1-0 (Conway)
Norwich (a) SBC: W 2-1 (Azaz, Conway)
Millwall (a) SBC: W 3-0 (Hackney, Jones, Burgzorg)
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 59
Saints wins: 25
Draws: 16
Boro wins: 18
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Mar 2024: Saints 1-1 Middlesbrough Championship (Armstrong)
Sep 2023: Middlesbrough 2-1 Saints Championship (Armstrong)
May 2017: Middlesbrough 1-2 Saints Premier League (Rodriguez, Redmond)
Dec 2016: Saints 1-0 Middlesbrough Premier League (Boufal)
Apr 2012: Middlesbrough 2-1 Saints Championship (Sharp)
KEEP UP TO DATE
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