Southampton’s final Premier League away game of the season sees them make their shortest journey, as Saints travel to relegation-threatened Bournemouth. Get set for the south coast showdown with our Match Pack, in association with eToro.
THE MATCH
AFC Bournemouth vs Southampton
Premier League
Vitality Stadium
Sunday 19th July, 2pm BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistants: Dan Robathan, Peter Kirkup
Fourth official: Tim Robinson
VAR: David Coote
Assistant VAR: Lee Betts
WHICH KIT WILL SAINTS BE WEARING?
Saints will be in their third strip of white shirts and white shorts. The red and white home socks will be worn, as they were for the recent victory at Watford.
HOW TO WATCH
Sunday’s trip to the Vitality Stadium will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1, available to subscription holders on Sky channel 413.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Bournemouth’s last home match of the season takes on major significance for Eddie Howe’s side, who lie three points adrift of safety with two games to play.
With Watford in their sights facing fixtures against Man City and Arsenal, the Cherries have every chance of saving themselves, but must target victory against Saints.
Saints are five games unbeaten and will want to extend that sequence to seven by the season’s end.
Four points from the last two fixtures would see them reach 50 in the Premier League for the first time since 2015/16 under Ronald Koeman.
TEAM NEWS
Bournemouth have a depleted backline, with no fewer than five defenders potentially sidelined for Sunday’s encounter.
Charlie Daniels, Chris Mepham and Simon Francis are definitely out, while Nathan Aké is unlikely to make it. Right-back Adam Smith could return in time to face Saints.
Ralph Hasenhüttl reported no new injuries in his pre-match press conference, but confirmed Moussa Djenepo, Sofiane Boufal and Yan Valery are still out.
The boss hinted that a few of the players who dropped to the bench against Brighton on Thursday could return to the starting line-up.
FORM GUIDE
Southampton:
Brighton (h) D 1-1 (Ings)
Man United (a) D 2-2 (Armstrong, Obafemi)
Everton (a) D 1-1 (Ings)
Man City (h) W 1-0 (Adams)
Watford (a) W 3-1 (Ings 2, Ward-Prowse)
Bournemouth:
Man City (a) L 1-2 (Brooks)
Leicester (h) W 4-1 (Stanislas pen, Solanke 2, Evans o.g.)
Tottenham (h) D 0-0
Man United (a) L 2-5 (Stanislas, King pen)
Newcastle (h) L 1-4 (Gosling)
THE MANAGERS
Eddie Howe: “We’re in a very difficult position but there is only one way out of the situation and that is to try and find the positives and build confidence and see if your situation can change.
“Full credit to Southampton for what they did from that moment. We still believe we can do the same.”
Ralph Hasenhüttl: “You never know what happens and why they (Bournemouth) have struggled so much this season. It’s really strange, but this is the Premier League and everything can happen.
“The quality of the team is normally a good one – I have a big opinion about the manager there, the club is normally settled and well organised.”
ONES TO WATCH
Junior Stanislas: Sidelined by injury for the first half of the campaign, Stanislas was still rediscovering his fitness before the lockdown, but looks a different player since the Premier League restart.
Bournemouth have missed his creativity, and the midfielder has registered two goals and an assist in the last four games, in which the Cherries have carried a much greater threat.
Danny Ings: Who else? Saints’ chief goal-getter made it 20 for the season in the Premier League with his second-half equaliser against Brighton on Thursday.
Ings began his career at Bournemouth under Howe, who also signed him for Burnley. Only Raheem Sterling (12) has scored more away goals in the top flight than Ings (11) this season.
TOP PERFORMERS
Inclusive of all competitions
Bournemouth:
Goals:
Callum Wilson 9
Harry Wilson 7
Josh King 5
Assists:
Ryan Fraser 4
Josh King 3
Diego Rico 3
Southampton:
Goals:
Danny Ings 23
Stuart Armstrong 5
Nathan Redmond 5
Assists:
Nathan Redmond 5
James Ward-Prowse 5
Ché Adams 4
HEAD TO HEAD
Played 30
Bournemouth 8
Draws 9
Saints 13
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
September 2019: Saints 1-3 Bournemouth (Ward-Prowse pen)
April 2019: Saints 3-3 Bournemouth (Long, Ward-Prowse, Targett)
October 2018: Bournemouth 0-0 Saints
April 2018: Saints 2-1 Bournemouth (Tadić 2)
December 2017: Bournemouth 1-1 Saints (Austin)
DID YOU KNOW?
- Southampton have earned 28 points on the road in the Premier League this season; they’ve never earned more on the road in a single top-flight campaign in their history (also 28 in 1983-84).
- Southampton have won their final away league game in four of the last six Premier League seasons (L2), though they did lose against West Ham in their final game on the road last term (0-3).
- Danny Ings has scored 11 away goals in the Premier League this season – only Matt Le Tissier (12 in 1993-94) has scored more on the road for Southampton in a single campaign in the competition.
KEEP UP TO DATE
We’ve got you covered! We’ll bring you all of the action from the Vitality Stadium, as well as a host of behind-the-scenes access.
Check out our interactive match centre at southamptonfc.com, with all of the live in-game updates and free audio commentary of the match, and be sure to follow us on social media for further updates and exclusive content:
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