Southampton v Fulham preview

Southampton face Fulham at St Mary's this weekend with both teams looking to improve on their recent defeats in the Premier League.

Southampton face Fulham at St Mary's this weekend with both teams looking to improve on their recent defeats in the Premier League. The Saints went down 3-1 at Goodison Park against a strong Everton side, while they have previously conceded three or more goals in defeats against both Manchester clubs and Arsenal. Their home form does look to be improving following victories over Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. Fulham suffered their first defeat in three games at the hands of champions Manchester City at Craven Cottage last weekend when Edin Dzeko came off the bench to net a late winner to break the Londoners' hearts. The Cottagers had previously recorded victories against Wigan and West Brom after making a solid start to the season under Martin Jol, with new recruit Dimitar Berbatov impressing. A win for Fulham could move them into the top six, whilst a victory for Southampton will move them away from the bottom three and to within three points of their opponents.The injuries of Daniel Fox and Morgan Schneiderlin aside, boss Nigel Adkins has a full-strength squad to pick from. Adkins may decide to rotate his goalkeepers once more as Gazzaniga inclusion has failed to prevent the leaky defence from conceding goals. Ricky Lambert will hope to add to his Premier League tally by linking up with dangerous front men Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez as will £12m striker Gaston Ramirez after scoring against Everton.Dimitar Berbatov could return to action against the Saints but he is likely to feature on the bench, if at all, following an injury sustained in training before the Man City clash. While Phillippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson remain sidelined, Kerim Frei could return to the squad following a return from an injury picked up with Turkey. Martin Jol may decide to change from the 4-5-1 formation designed to shut out City, to a more attacking option.