Match Pack: Saints vs Leicester

Southampton vs Leicester City

St Mary’s Stadium

Premier League

Friday 30th April 2021, 8pm BST

Referee: Robert Jones

Assistants: Darren Cann, Mark Scholes

Fourth official: Andre Marriner

VAR: Jonathan Moss

Assistant VAR: Gary Beswick

After losing to Leicester in the FA Cup semi-final almost a fortnight ago, Southampton will be looking to exact some revenge in the league.

Three points for Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side would also tip them on the verge of mathematical safety whilst lifting them as high as 13th, albeit before the weekend’s fixtures are played out.

For Leicester, they’ll be keen to extend their four-point buffer over fourth-placed Chelsea, as the race for the top four hots up.

Having missed out on the Champions League last season due to a late lack of form, Brendan Rodgers will be determined for his side to finish off what has been a consistent campaign for the Foxes.

TEAM NEWS

Ralph Hasenhüttl will be unable to call upon Danny Ings (hamstring) and Ryan Bertrand (calf), with Ings limping out of last week's trip to Spurs whilst Bertrand hasn't featured since the FA Cup semi-final against the Foxes earlier this month.

Elsewhere, Oriol Romeu has returned to individual training and Michael Obafemi continues to regain sharpness with the first team, but Friday's encounter will come too soon for both.

For the visitors, Brendan Rodgers confirmed on Wednesday that Harvey Barnes will miss the remainder of Leicester's season due to needing a second operation on his knee, with Wes Morgan and James Justin also sidelined. Otherwise, the Foxes came through Monday's clash with Crystal Palace unscathed.

Tottenham (a) 1-2 (Ings)

Leicester (n) 0-1 FA Cup

West Brom (a) 0-3

Burnley (h) 3-2 (Armstrong, Ings, Redmond)

Bournemouth (a) 3-0 (Djenepo, Redmond 2) FA Cup

Crystal Palace (h) 2-1 (Castagne, Iheanacho)

West Brom (h) 3-0 (Vardy, Evans, Iheanacho)

Saints (n) 1-0 (Iheanacho) FA Cup

West Ham (a) 2-3 (Iheanacho 2)

Man City (h) 0-2

"You need to have an overall good performance, but there's no reason why we shouldn't do it.

"We had a good first half against Tottenham, but one half is not enough, so we need to be in perfect shape and then we have always a chance to win."

Brendan Rodgers: "Ralph will look to improve the depth of his team. When they are all fit, they play with intensity and put you under pressure.

"They have been unfortunate, losing by the odd goal. They work so hard and they have gifted players. We will have to work hard."

ONES TO WATCH

Ché Adams: After being recalled to the starting line-up at Spurs last time out, Adams will be tasked with leading the line in the absence of top scorer Danny Ings.

Scoring in three of his last four Premier League starts, the Scotland international will look to kick-start another rich vein of form heading into the closing stages of the season.

Kelechi Iheanacho: The Nigerian has been a revelation for Leicester this season, sitting top of their scoring charts with 17 for the campaign.

With 14 goals in his last 14 games, Saints will be well aware of the threat he poses after ending their FA Cup campaign at Wembley earlier this month.

TOP PERFORMERS

Southampton

Goals:

Danny Ings 11
James Ward-Prowse 8
Ché Adams 7

Assists:

James Ward-Prowse 6
Stuart Armstrong 5
Ings, Adams 4

Kelechi Iheanacho 17

Jamie Vardy 15

Harvey Barnes 13

Jamie Vardy 8

James Maddison 7

Marc Albrighton 6

Played: 93

Saints: 34

Draws: 29

Leicester: 30

- Southampton’s Theo Walcott has scored five goals in his 10 Premier League appearances against Leicester, only netting more against Tottenham and West Ham in the competition (six each). His five goals against the Foxes have come at three different stadiums – 2x Emirates, 2x Goodison Park and 1x King Power Stadium.

We’ve got you covered! We’ll bring you all of the action from the St Mary’s 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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