Why is this man a specialist at stalling the Saints?
Expect Sam Allardyce to remain unbeaten at home as Sunderland manager when Southampton go to Wearside…
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Sunderland 5.10 v Southampton 1.80; The Draw 3.95
Saturday, 15:00
Sunderland
Any optimism that Sam Allardyce had that he had fixed the Sunderland defence after they conceded one goal in his first two games was shattered last weekend as they blundered to a 6-2 defeat against Everton, who had only scored five times in their previous five home fixtures.
The Black Cats performance was encouraging despite the ugly result, with them actually managing both more shots and more shots on target than their hosts and continuing to threaten even as the deficit widened. As Allardyce is more skilled at stopping backlines leaking than he is at getting timid attacks firing, there is cause for some tentative optimism.
Whether the injury news will be uplifting remains to be seen. Lee Cattermole has been ruled out and seemingly Adam Matthews too, but John O’Shea, Younes Kaboul, Ola Toivonen and Fabio Borini have returned to training and consequently have a reasonable chance of being passed fit.
Southampton
The Saints have eight points fewer than at the 11-match checkpoint last term, though it would be harsh to hold them to a standard which saw them win eight times and draw once, especially as they were assisted by a fixture list handing them just two of the prior campaign’s top seven (they lost to both).
On this occasion, they have faced three of 2014/15’s top six, they had four summer Europa League encounters to contend with as well as injuries to their star signing Jordy Clasie, goalkeeper Fraser Forster and even boss Ronald Koeman.
In those circumstances, the fact that they have lost a mere two of their 13 domestic outings has to be considered commendable, as much as they would have targeted more than four league victories from 11, and leaves them in the same seventh place that they closed last season.
However, they won’t be at full strength on Wearside, with Victor Wanyama suspended following his dismissal against Bournemouth, Forster, Florin Gardos, Shane Long and Jay Rodriguez sidelined and skipper Jose Fonte a doubt.
Match Odds
Southampton have achieved many things since regaining Premier League status in 2012: there’s the successive top-eight finishes, European qualification, the scalps of Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United and even an 8-0 annihilation of Sunderland at St Mary’s last October.
One thing that they haven’t managed in that considerable timeframe is a triumph at the Stadium of Light, and that despite visiting twice in cup competitions in addition to the three league journeys. They have suffered three reverses in four there, blowing a 2-0 lead in the only one to yield a point.
The Black Cats started the season with one point from a possible nine in front of their suffering fans, yet have rallied with four from six since, ending West Ham’s flawless away record in a game that they were on course to win before Jeremain Lens saw red, and then beating Newcastle 3-0.
Allardyce meanwhile has won ten and lost just four of his past 18 Premier League home contests regardless of West Ham’s poor form in the final months of 2014/15 and claimed at least a point from five of his six top-flight meetings with the south coast side.
If those trends aren’t enough to entice you, here’s another: the Saints have mustered one away league win in a dozen attempts over the past nine months, compared to seven in 11 prior to that.
Recommended Bet:
Lay Southampton to win @ 1.81
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