Well, squeaky bum time. Less than three points here would suck hugely, given we're up against one of the league's weakest sides. This one has crept up on me a bit due to its timing.
Likely lineups:
Us:
Ramsdale
White Holding Gabriel Tierney*
Partey
Ødegaard Xhaka
Saka Jesus Martinelli
* Zinchenko is reportedly fairly fit, but also might be rested or protected prior to City next week. Saliba is out, possibly for the season.
Soton:
Bazunu
Perraud Bednarek Bella-Kotchap Walker-Peters
Ward-Prowse Lavia
Djenepo Sulemana
Alcaraz Onuachu
Maitland-Niles is ineligible, Theo on the bench they're guessing.
Nothing much to gain here, but:
It would be good to see Saka shake off his recent blues.
It'd be great if we could control the match end to end.
It would be fantastic if we could go well ahead, then use the last half hour to give some of our under-used players a meaningful run, or try other ways of compensating for our recent deficiencies—but I'm not expecting miracles, I'll take three points if we can get them.
