Hull Continue relegation fight at Southampton
Hull City travel to the south coast to take on Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon fighting for their lives towards the bottom of the table.
Southampton have very little to play for as the season draws to a close and find themselves in 9th place in the Premier League. With Everton in 7th place on 58 points, the Saints can only catch West Bromwich Albion who are currently 4 points clear in 8th position. With a game in hand, Southampton must win this and their game in hand, while hoping West Brom drop points to move up the league.
Meanwhile, Hull are still scrapping to stay in the Premier League and currently sit just outside the relegation zone in 17th place, with 33 points from 34 games played. The Tigers are just 2 points clear of Swansea City who are in 18th place and realistically, it is between them and Hull for the final relegation spot.
Trends show Southampton come into this game on the back of two straight defeats in the Premier League. However, the defeats have come against Manchester City and Chelsea, two of the top teams in the league. The loss of key central defender Virgil van Dijk was clear in both matches, as Southampton conceded a total of 7 goals across the two games.
Southampton have been struggling ever since they were dumped out of the FA Cup in humiliating fashion by Arsenal in January. Since the 5-0 home loss to the Gunners, Southampton have won four of their eleven Premier League games, with disappointing defeats to Swansea and West Ham United and a home draw with Bournemouth.
Claude Puel’s team have been very inconsistent at home, winning only six of their fifteen home league games this season. Hull will be hoping to take advantage of this but have found winning games away from home almost impossible this season.
Trends show Hull have won just one match away from home in the Premier League this season and that came at Swansea in August. Since that win, Hull have lost fourteen and drawn two away games in the Premier League, which is a dreadful record. Overall form has improved since the arrival of Marco Silva but the points have come at the KCOM Stadium under his management, with very little to cheer about on the road.
Southampton may be without Sofiane Boufal, who came off against Chelsea with a knock having looked lively and Nathan Redmond could come in to replace the Morocco international. Hull can welcome back Oumar Niasse, who had his suspension overturned but will be without the injured Moses Odubajo, Omar Olabdellaoui, Will Keane, Ryan Mason and David Meyler.
Hull have conceded 40 goals away from home this season and it seems unlikely they are going to keep a clean sheet at Southampton. The visitors have lost their last four matches against Southampton and although they have more to play for than the Saints, this combined with their awful away form suggests they are going to lose the game. Southampton to win, with both team scoring seems like a highly probable outcome.
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