Spurs came crashing back down to Earth last Sunday with a dismal 2-1 defeat at home to a resurgent Newcastle United.
Tottenham lost the chance to dislodge Manchester United from fourth spot and as such travel to St. Mary’s needing a win to keep up the pressure on the sides above them.
But Southampton are not in such great form themselves, finding themselves surprisingly in 12th place and a far cry from last season’s impressive exploits.
This weekend’s encounter is the last chance for both sides to register some festive cheer before Christmas and the Boxing Day fixtures.
Southampton
At this point last season, Southampton found themselves in fifth place behind fellow surprise package West Ham United.
However, Ronald Koeman’s men have enjoyed no such luck this time around. With no win in five games, including a 6-1 battering at home to Liverpool in the League Cup, Southampton have struggled to maintain consistency since shocking Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Conceding goals hasn’t been much of Southampton’s problem, but at the other end, they’ve only scored 21 times in the league and have only scored more than one goal just once in the last seven games.
Graziano Pelle is The Saints’ leading scorer with six Premier League goals, but much of the pressure has fallen to star player Sadio Mane to step up and deliver the goods for the south coast side.
The Senegalese has obliged with three goals and five assists, but Southampton need more from other players in attack.
Pelle has failed to score in his last five games and on the bench there isn’t a viable alternative to the Italian, with summer signing Juanmi failing to provide legitimate competition with Jay Rodriguez continuing to struggle with injury.
Defensively Southampton are pretty strong, with Cedric Soares and Victor Wanyama making on average 3.5 and 2.6 tackles a game and the impressive Virgil van Dijk making just over seven clearances a game.
But they need to start taking chances at the other end of the pitch to have any improvement in fortune, starting against an equally tough Tottenham defence
With Maarten Steklenburg still out, Paulo Gazzaniga will start on Saturday and gave a good account of himself in the defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend.
Aside from Rodriguez, Fraser Forster and Stekelenburg, there are no recent injury worries for Southampton as they look for a win to take them to the top half of the table.
Jose Fonte and van Dijk make a tough centre back partnership, while Koeman likes to rotate his midfield and even went with a back three against Palace, allowing Wanyama and Oriel Romeu sitting deep.
If it’s a 4-2-3-1, Wanyama, Steven Davis and James Ward-Prowse will form the midfield three.
Tottenham
A disappointing afternoon in N17 last Sunday has put Spurs under a little bit of pressure for their trip to Southampton.
Having been quietly touted as in the race for the title, let alone a top four finish, Spurs need to show they have the mental strength to put aside the Newcastle defeat and take three points from a tough Southampton side.
Tottenham have struggled to kill off games this season, dropping 11 points from winning positions, contrasting to last season where they saved so many points from going behind.
The last two games against West Brom and Newcastle has shown a lack of urgency from Tottenham, perhaps suffering from fatigue due to a lack of rotation and balancing both the Europa League and Premier League campaigns.
Part of the problem has also been Spurs’ reliance on Golden Boy Harry Kane to get them out of trouble.
By always looking to go through him, Spurs nullify their options out wide, something they should have looked to have done against Newcastle with their full backs not enjoying the greatest of seasons.
Substitute Heung-Min Son was highly ineffectual in a central position and should really be played out wide or up front, not as a central attacking midfielder.
With Harry Kane perhaps needing an extended break, Son seems to be the only realistic option should Kane need to be taken off on Saturday, with Clinton N’Jie not ready enough to change the game.
Dele Alli should drop back into midfield ahead of Tom Carroll who should be dropped given his poor showing and Mousa Dembele restored if he recovers from his foot injury.
Erik Lamela will start, whilst Christian Eriksen, poor in recent weeks, should start in the centre, allowing Son or the returning Nacer Chadli to start on the other flank.
Head to head
Southampton are yet to taste victory against Tottenham in the Premier League since they returned to the division in 2012.
The Saints have lost five of their last six games, but have scored two goals in three of the last four occasions.
Last time out
Southampton 2-2 Tottenham
The Southampton view – Ronald Koeman, manager
“We know that it’s always maybe a little bit more history now between Spurs and Southampton. We respect our opponent.
“They have a strong team, they have some good players but they have to win because they don’t win in their last two games. The same pressure is on them as for us.
“They play out of the qualities they have. They are difficult to beat and they lost only two times this season.
“That means it’s difficult to beat them, but we play at home. We have the support of our fans and we have to show that we are still a strong team.”
The Tottenham view – Hugo Lloris, goalkeeper
“It was positive in the dressing room after Newcastle. We had a chat together and tried to understand what happened in the second half.
“At half-time everyone was positive and wanted to win the game but at the end, we didn’t respond.
“I’m not worried about the Newcastle game. It was an opportunity but we missed it. There will be other opportunities and the only thing that matters is to be where we want to be at the end of the season – and the season is still very young.
“There is no panic but we all know we need to get back to winning ways. We demand a lot of effort from each other and we’ve had a good week to prepare.”
Prediction
This is a tough match for Tottenham and considering their recent struggles, will be a tall order to beat Southampton even if they are in poorer form.
Southampton 1-1 Tottenham
