After seeing off fellow relegation rivals Watford in the previous round, Southampton will be looking to get the better of another struggling side this week. Saints host Norwich City at St. Mary’s on Wednesday night and it’s set to be a tense encounter.
Southampton find themselves 18th in the table, while Norwich are one place below having picked up one point less than Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side. Both teams have only managed to win three of their fourteen games this season.
Saints come into this match on the back of a hard-fought victory over Watford. The south coast side went behind against the Hornets, but second-half goals from Danny Ings and James Ward-Prowse turned the game on its head.
Ward-Prowse won the game with a trademark free-kick on 83 minutes, while Danny Ings’ red-hot form continued with his third goal in as many matches. The former Liverpool forward has now scored six goals in his last eight top-flight appearances.
Norwich’s spirits will also be high heading into this midweek fixture as they picked up an impressive point against Arsenal last time out. The Canaries led twice in the game, so they may actually be a little disappointed they didn’t come away with all three points.
Teemu Pukki ended his goal-drought when he gave Norwich the lead in the first half. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang levelled from the spot, before Todd Cantwell put the hosts ahead again just before the break. However, Aubameyang got his second of the game just before the hour mark to ensure the game ended all square.
Still, following an impressive 2-0 victory away at Everton on Matchday 13, Daniel Farke must be happy with his team’s recent performances.
This will be the first top-flight meeting between Southampton and Norwich since 2015/16. Saints won 3-0 at St. Mary’s back then, but Norwich scraped a 1-0 victory at Carrow Road in the reverse fixture.
Southampton have been poor at home this season with just four of their 12 points coming from home fixtures. On the other hand, Norwich have performed worse on the road, with four of their 11 points coming away from home.
Hasenhuttl will be hopeful that tricky winger Sofiane Boufal will be fit to play on Wednesday, while the return of midfielder Stuart Armstrong may have to wait.
Norwich’s lengthy injury list is starting to shorten, but they will still be without Timm Klose, Josip Drmic, Grant Hanley and Alexander Tettey for the trip to the south coast.
Forebet predicts that Southampton will edge past Norwich on Wednesday. The Canaries have travelled poorly this season, so Saints are likely to make the most of their home advantage.
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