South-coast rivals Bournemouth and Southampton meet at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday for a hugely important Premier League clash.
Twelfth-place Saints will be looking to finish as high up the table as possible, but eighteenth-place Bournemouth must win to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation.
The Cherries currently sit third from bottom, although even a win this weekend wouldn’t guarantee them a route of out the drop zone due to their poor goal difference.
Having only won one of their seven games since the restart, Eddie Howe’s side must win their remaining two games to stand any chance of staying in the Premier League for another year.
Bournemouth returned to action with four straight defeats to Crystal Palace, Wolves, Newcastle, and Manchester United before sealing a goalless draw with Tottenham.
A much-need – and highly unexpected – 4-1 victory of Leicester gave the club a lifeline, but a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City last time out brought Bournemouth back down to earth.
Meanwhile, Southampton have been in fine form since the resumption, losing just one of their seven games this side of the lay-off.
Three straight draws against Everton, Man Utd, and Brighton have prevented the club from moving up the table of late, although impressive wins over Norwich, Watford, and Man City have secured mid-table safety.
Considering that Southampton don’t really have anything to play for, Ralph Hasenhuttl will surely be happy with his players’ professionalism in recent weeks.
Saints aren’t in any danger of relegation, but the European places are also out of reach, so 12 points from a possible 21 since the restart is an admirable return.
Head-to-head: Bournemouth claimed a rare 3-1 victory over Southampton in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign, thanks to goals from Nathan Ake, Harry Wilson, and Callum Wilson.
However, that was the Cherries first win in this fixture since 2016. Four draws and two Saints victories came in between Bournemouth’s most recent wins.
Team news: Bournemouth will be hoping that Adam Smith and Nathan Ake can return from injury before the end of the season, although Charlie Daniels, Chris Mepham, and Simon Francis aren’t likely to feature again this term.
As four Southampton, Nathan Tella, Sofiane Boufal, Yan Valery, and Moussa Djenepo are all injury doubts.
Bournemouth have no option but to go for broke on Sunday. However, their approach is likely to leave them exposed at the back.
The Cherries will be expected to give their all, but Southampton should have enough quality to come away from the Vitality Stadium with all three points.
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