Watford vs Southampton. Premier League.
Vicarage RoadAttendance20,670.
Saturday 4 March 2017 10:47, UK
Southampton will look to put the disappointment of their EFL Cup final defeat behind them when they travel to Watford on Saturday.
The Saints fell to a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic header at Wembley as Manchester United won 3-2 and now Claude Puel's side need to focus on climbing the Premier League table, having lost six of their last eight games.
It's a run of form which has seen them slip from seventh on Christmas Day to a current position of 13th.
The arrival of Manolo Gabbiadini has boosted the outlook for Southampton - he's scored five goals in his three appearances and is already the club's joint-second top goalscorer behind Charlie Austin.
After a sticky run of results, Watford have lost just one of their last six matches in the league but have only kept one clean sheet in their last 16 games.
Watford will be without Mauro Zarate but could have Daryl Janmaat and Costel Pantilimon available.
Winger Zarate has been ruled out for the rest of the season by the knee injury that forced him off in the 1-1 draw with his former club West Ham at Vicarage Road last Saturday.
Defender Janmaat (groin), another to come off injured last weekend, is having his fitness checked ahead of potential involvement against the Saints, as is goalkeeper Pantilimon (ankle), who has been sidelined since the end of January.
Fraser Forster will be fit to start for Southampton.
The England goalkeeper appeared to battle a minor thigh issue in the defeat to United, but boss Puel has insisted he has not suffered any injury.
Austin remains sidelined with a shoulder problem, while Virgil van Dijk continues to recover from his ankle injury.
Watford have won one of their five Premier League clashes with the Saints (W1 D2 L2) - a 3-2 victory back in December 1999.
Southampton are unbeaten in six league games against the Hornets (W3 D3 L0), including three matches played in the Championship between 2009 and 2012.
Watford have only scored four goals in five previous Premier League meetings with Southampton and three of those were in the aforementioned win in December 1999; they have failed to score in three of their last four.
In the three Premier League games between these two sides since the start of last season, Watford have attempted just two shots on target in 270 minutes.
Watford had substitute Ben Watson sent off in the reverse fixture on the opening day of the 2016/17 season - the only time a sub has been sent off in the Premier League all season.
Southampton have already lost 11 games in the Premier League this season; the same number as in the whole of 2015/16.
Gabbiadini has scored five times in three appearances for Southampton since joining the club, including twice in the EFL Cup final. He could become the first Saints player to score in his first three Premier League appearances for the club.
Gabbiadini also scored in his final three competitive appearances for Napoli, so he's now scored in six successive club appearances overall (eight goals).
Troy Deeney (104 goals) - who has scored four goals in his last five Premier League appearances - is just one goal away from becoming the joint-fourth highest goalscorer in Watford history alongside Cliff Holton (105 goals).
Southampton have lost five Premier League games that they have been leading in 2016/17, more than any other team. The last team to lose five or more games after scoring first in a Premier League season were West Ham in 2013/14 (six) and the record in a single PL campaign is seven; set by Blackburn (1992/93), Southampton (1992/93) and Wolves (2011/12).
Southampton were very unlucky in the EFL Cup final last Sunday. They deserved extra time at least for their performance. This week, a lot will depend on how they bounce back from their Wembley disappointment. they'll have to pick themselves up and dust themselves off but they can take a lot of positives for the way they performed against Manchester United.
I just don't know which Watford team will turn up. I've been going 1-1 in a lot of Watford games recently. They are not doing enough to win games at the moment but at the same time, they are doing enough not to lose them.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (9/2 with Sky Bet)
Southampton are Sky Bet's 23/10 favourites with Watford 5/2 while the draw is an 11/5 chance. Manolo Gabbiadini is 4/1 to bag another brace and the same price at the head of the first goalscorer betting, with Troy Deeney considered the hosts' main threat at 13/2 to net first.
Top-half finishes are considered the limit of both sides' achievements this season, with the Saints 8/15 while their hosts are 9/2 chances.