Southampton vs Leicester City. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Southampton FC will host Leicester City FC in the Championship 6th round match at the St. Mary’s Stadium. The fixture will take place on Saturday, September 16, beginning at 00:30 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Southampton News & Current Form: 

Southampton played in the English Premier League last season, but after a disappointing campaign they relegated to the second division along with Leicester City and Leeds United FC.

At the start of the season the Saints showed good results, after five rounds of games they are in seventh place in the standings with ten points. The team is quite good in attack, being in the top three in terms of goals scored – 10. But at the same time, Southampton conceded more than the rest in the league – 12 goals. 

Newly appointed coach of Southampton FC – Russell Martin

The charges of Russell Martin certainly needed a restart after a 0:5 defeat to Sunderland AFC. The Saints made a defensive error in the first minute of the game and allowed their opponents to score a goal. After that, the plans of the coaching staff collapsed. Due to repeated attempts to get back into the game, the opponents’ counter attacks were opened up.

Before this defeat, the team had a four-match unbeaten streak. During this time Southampton defeated three clubs with the same score 2:1 – Sheffield Wednesday FC, Plymouth Argyle FC and QPR FC. The Saints drew with Norwich City FC – 4:4. Thus, in all five meetings the club conceded at least a goal, and each game ended with a total of more than 2.5 goals.

There was also the game 1/64 of the English League Cup against Gillingham FC, in which the team, representing the 4th division, scored three times against the Saints (3:1). This was an opportunity to use the break in the league to fine-tune the defense, which does not match the club’s high ambitions.

Leicester City News & Current Form: 

Leicester also played last season in the top division and better than the upcoming opponent started their performance in the new season of the Championship, after five rounds held, occupying third place in the standings, having in their asset 12 points, meanwhile the Foxes hit the opponents’ goal seven times. Interestingly, Leicester is one of the best teams in terms of reliability in defense – only 4 conceded goals.

In the starting 4 rounds the team scored the maximum number of points, but the defeat from Hull City FC (0:1) showed that the return to the elite will not be easy. However, it should not be misleading, because that night the Foxes acted much sharper, and allowed the opponent to create only 0.3 xG with a ball possession of 35%.

Former assistant of Pep Guardiola Enzo Maresca is now coaching Leaicester City FC

It should be recalled that the team is now under the leadership of Enzo Maresca, former assistant of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. He invited the famous former goalkeeper Willy Caballero to Leicester, who joined the coaching staff. All this was done with the aim of returning to the top division of the country.

Maresca also managed to persuade the management of City to send on loan center-back Callum Doyle to his new team. This is a talented footballer who plays for the youth national team of England. He marked his debut in the match with Luxembourg by scoring a goal.

The famous striker Jamie Vardy remained in the squad of Leicester. The 36-year-old footballer no longer claims the status of a base player, but regularly comes on as a substitute. In the Championship, he recorded an assist, and in the cup game he opened the scoring account in the new season.

Before the loss to Hull, the Blues defeated Coventry City FC (2:1), Huddersfield Town FC (1:0), Cardiff City FC (2:1), Rotherham United FC (2:1). In 1/32 of the English League Cup they scored 2 unanswered goals against Tranmere Rovers FC. 

In the current season, Maresca’s wards are trying to be more restrained and cautious during away matches. Taking into account all competitions, they have won in the last four games on someone else’s field, and three of them ended with a total of less than 2.5 goals.

It is worth noting that Leicester and Southampton played each other in March this year in the EPL. In that match, the Saints minimally beat the opponent with a score of 1:0. By the way, the Foxes failed to make a single shot on goal.

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Southampton form guide: W-D-W-W-L

Leicester City form guide: W-W-W-W-L

Southampton vs Leicester City Head-To-Head Record:

• April 30, 2021: Southampton 1 – 1 Leicester City (Premier League);
• December 1, 2021: Southampton 2 – 2 Leicester City (Premier League);
• May 22, 2022: Leicester City 4 – 1 Southampton (Premier League);
• August 20, 2022: Leicester City 1 – 2 Southampton (Premier League);
• March 4, 2023: Southampton 1 – 0 Leicester City (Premier League).

Southampton vs Leicester City Predicted XI:

Southampton’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Manning; Smallbone, Downes, S.Armstrong; A.Armstrong, Adams, Edozie.

Leicester City’s possible starting lineup (3-4-3): Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Doyle; Ndidi, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall; Mavididi, Iheanacho, McAteer.

Statistical preview of the match Southampton vs Leicester City:

• Southampton’s First XI average age is 25.2 years, Leicester’s First XI average age is 25.5 years.
• The Saints’ total value of the squad is 234 mln euros, while Foxes have a value of 252 mln euros. 
• Southampton have served less than 5.5 corners in 10 consecutive head-to-head matches of these teams.
• The average corners total in the home team’s matches is 11.33, while the average corners total in the away games is 11.29. Southampton collect an average of 4 Yellow Cards per game, while Leicester City get 2.33 per 90 minutes. Southampton are the most rampant team at the start of the current season. 22 goals have been scored in matches involving the Saints, with the average total of goals netted per match being 4.4 goals.
• Leicester City have had less than 4.5 corners in 7 of the last 8 face-to-face meetings between these teams.
• Southampton have conceded at home in 14 of their last 15 matches.
• Leicester City have scored away in 9 of the last 10 matches.
• Southampton are unbeaten at home in 8 of their last 9 matches.
• Leicester City have not lost away in 5 consecutive matches.

What has been said before the match:

Gaffer of Southamton Russell Martin ahead of 6th round game of Championship :

“It was a really tough few days after Sunderland. We watched the game about two or three times which was pretty painful, but you have to go through that again to analyze and learn to be ready for the next one. We are really clear on the issues we had at Sunderland. It wasn’t us and it’s not going to be us. I don’t think it will happen again.”

“Both teams are going into this a little wounded.The team that is the bravest with the ball, that shows the most intensity and the most aggression out of possession, will come out on top.”

“Leicester present a different challenge to what we have faced so far and I think our players will rise to that challenge. This game will be a brilliant advert for Championship football. We have a chance to get back on track and it will make for a really interesting game. We will only get better.”

“But we are really proud and really pleased with a lot of stuff we have seen because it is a big, big change in terms of the style and culture that we are trying to create here. I’m really pleased with the points we’ve got so far and we will only get better.”

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, player of the Foxes, about the test that the upcoming game presents:

“It’s a very tough test. They’ve a great young English manager that wants to play good football. Seeing them this season, they’ve got some good results playing some really good stuff and pretty similar to us, they’ve got a squad that isn’t far off Premier League quality.”

“It’s a big game for us. It’s a big game for the league and I’m hoping that when it comes to it we’re going to be completely ready, which we will be, to get those three points. I think it’ll be almost like a bit of a chess match. A very tactical battle with moments of quality.”

“Hopefully, that will be from our end more than theirs. We’re going to have to try and stifle the way they play and then enforce the way we play. That’s the aim of the game, and I’m sure that we’ll be gearing up for that and then the game will be ready in all departments.”

“For me personally, there’s only one target this season. We need to be looking to get promoted and it’s as simple as that. So, we’ve got all the fundamentals, we’ve got all the tools for it, so there’s no reason why we can’t do it.”

Southampton vs Leicester City Prediction:

Two attractive teams, which failed to survive in the battle for relegation last spring, will be fighting in the realm of the 2nd-best English football division. Nevertheless, all these events have long since been thoroughly digested, and the so-called “Championship cleansing” is more likely to be beneficial for the recession-hit clubs. 

It seems that the reset is already in full swing – they started their performance in the Championships with a bang. Foxes were going unbeaten in four meetings and stumbled against Hull at the fifth attempt. This defeat will make the team angry and a real beast will come to Southampton. The Foxes coaching staff have set the team a modern game with pressing and solid defence, with some of Guardiola’s tactical principles apparent. Last match will only help to make constructive tweaks in defence for more reliability. 

The hosts, on the other hand, cannot boast such stability. The Saints have been taught a harsh lesson after conceding five goals against Sunderland and will be more alert from now on. Something that has befallen them from time to time in the EPL as well. And, therefore, the White-Reds will not be significantly upset. There is a whole year ahead of them and in the next match we will again see various adventures in the performance of the hosts. At times they can deliver a surprisingly good result. It turns out that the football on the opposite courses here is not a bad option for both. These opponents should please the public with an abundance of goals – both squads have an attacking style and excel up front. The hosts have ten goals after five rounds, while the visitors have netted seven.

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: both teams will score and the match total will be over 2.5 – Yes.

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