Crucial Clash at the Bottom of the Table

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While much of the attention is on the race for the title and the top four in the Premier League, several clubs are battling for their lives at the bottom.  Therefore, arguably the biggest match of the night in the Premier League is between Southampton and Fulham at St Mary’s Stadium.

Southampton begin the week in 18th place, the final of the relegation positions.  They are 1 point behind 17th place Cardiff City and a win could lift them out of the bottom three.  Fulham know a win will not get them out of the relegation zone but it could close the gap to Southampton to 4 points.

The Saints faced a tricky game away to Arsenal on the weekend and came away with a 2-0 loss.  Having conceded early in the match, at least Southampton did not buckle and restricted the hosts to just one more goal.

That defeats means Southampton have failed to win any of their last four Premier League games.  They have been held to draws at home against Crystal Palace and away to Burnley but lost 2-1 at home to Cardiff City, which was a disappointment.

Trends show Southampton have scored in each of their last eight home Premier League games but have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of those matches. Therefore, both teams have scored in all eight of those matches and Southampton have been struggling to keep clean sheets at home in the Premier League.

Fulham opened the scoring at West Ham United on Friday night after just 3 minutes but could not hold on to their advantage.  They conceded 2 goals in the first half and another in the second half to lose the game 3-1.

That was their third Premier League defeat in a row and relegation is becoming more of a possibility every week.  Trends show Fulham have recorded only three wins from their last twenty-four Premier League matches and they have failed to win a single away game all season.

Having picked up a 0-0 draw at Newcastle United on the 22nd December, Fulham have lost four away matches in succession. They have scored a goal in three of those four games but have conceded 2 or more goals in each of them.

Team news and Southampton will be without the injured trio of Michael Obafemi, Danny Ings and Mario Lemina.  Ryan Bertrand will hope to start having been named on the bench on the weekend and Alex McCarthy may get a recall in goal.

Fulham are still without Alfie Mawson and Marcus Bettinelli, who are both injured.  Andre Schurrle was ill on Friday night and he may struggle to recover in time of this game.

This is a match between two teams who desperately need the points.  It wouldn’t be a surprise to see both teams score in this one but Fulham’s away record is awful and Southampton have to be favourites to win the match.