Premier League preview and odds: Southampton vs. Stoke City

Published on: 17/11/2015

Premier League preview and odds: Southampton vs. Stoke City

November 21, 2015 15:00pm - St. Marys Stadium

Premier League

Two teams who have found form in recent weeks will go head-to-head on Saturday as Southampton host Stoke City at St. Marys in the Barclays Premier League.

Saints still marching up the table

After a difficult start to the season, in which they won just one of their first six games, Southampton are now on a roll. They are now unbeaten in their last six games and find themselves comfortably positioned in seventh place in the Premier League table just a point away from the first European qualification place.

The Saints were last beaten at home back in September when Manchester United prevailed at St. Marys by a 3-2 score-line. Since then, they have beaten Swansea and Bournemouth either side of a draw with Leicester on home soil. They come into this game on the back of a 0-1 away win at Sunderland that came courtesy of a Dusan Tadic penalty.

Stoke continue steady improvement

Stoke can move to within a point of Southampton if they can pull off an away win at the weekend, a feat which they achieved in two of their last three away games. After failing to win any of their first six games of the season, Mark Hughes men have won four of their last six with just one defeat, to move into 12th place in the table. Despite being in the bottom half of the table, the Potters are closer to the European places than they are the relegation zone.

In their last game they ran out 1-0 winners over reigning league champions Chelsea thanks to a goal from Marko Arnautović. Prior to that, they played out a goalless draw away to Newcastle to stretch their unbeaten record on the road to three games.

Team news

Virgil van Dijk, Jay Rodriguez and Shane Long are all expected to be avilable for Saints boss Ronald Koeman, while Florin Gardos and Fraser Forster remain long-term absentees.

Stoke could be boosted by the return of Marc Muniesa and Joselu, while keeper Shay Given will remain on the sidelines for an indefinite period..

Recent form (League)

Southampton: WWDDW

Stoke City: WDLWW

Betting odds and tips

The Saints will be favourites but this game is a tough one to call. Stoke have struggled for goals on the road but have only been defeated once while Saints have yet to beat a team from outside of the bottom seven at home.

However, this could be a game were the goals scorer market is worth exploring. Graziano Pelle has scored four of his six goals at home this season and can be backed at 13/10 to score anytime with Bet365.

Published on: 17/11/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (17/11/2015 17:15:54) but are subject to change.