Southampton vs West Bromwich Albion; Premier League
Southampton vs West Bromwich Albion. Premier League.
St. Mary's StadiumAttendance29,622.
Southampton 3
- J Ward-Prowse (5th minute, 35th minute pen)
- D Tadic (72nd minute)
West Bromwich Albion 0
Southampton v West Brom preview: Victor Wanyama back from suspension
Saturday 16 January 2016 15:10, UK
Victor Wanyama is back from suspension as Southampton host West Brom on Saturday at St Mary's.
The Saints' 2-0 win over Watford in midweek ended a run of three straight defeats in all competitions, while West Brom came from behind twice to secure a late draw at Chelsea.
The Baggies will be hoping to go a fifth game unbeaten in all competitions for the first time this season.
Team news
Wanyama is back in contention but Ronald Koeman was not giving anything away as to whether he will start.
The Dutch boss has no fresh injury worries ahead of the game but Gaston Ramirez is still out with a hamstring injury and Florian Gardos remains on the sidelines with a knee problem.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis may make "one or two changes" after monitoring his players' fitness levels in a light training session on Friday.
The Baggies stayed in Southampton after their 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Tuesday and Rickie Lambert will be back in contention after missing that game through illness.
Jonas Olsson will be one of the players Pulis monitors before the game as he has just come back from a hamstring problem and James Morrison will be unavailable after coming off after playing only seven minutes on Tuesday due to a similar injury.
Opta stats
West Brom have enjoyed just one win in their last five top-tier meetings with Southampton (D2 L2).
Southampton have failed to score in six of the last eight Premier League games against the Baggies.
West Brom have failed to score in five of their last eight Premier League meetings with Southampton.
Only Aston Villa (68) have had fewer shots on target than the Baggies (69) this season in the Premier League.
Eight of Shane Long's 10 Premier League goals for Southampton have been scored at St Mary's.
These two sides have both netted a league-high nine headed goals this season.
Dusan Tadic has fired in a league-high 100 open-play crosses this season in the Premier League.
Merson's prediction
Who knows what you will get from either Southampton or West Brom?
Koeman's side recovered with an excellent win against Watford, while West Brom put their strongest team out in the FA Cup against Bristol City at home and draw 2-2, before battling to a hard fought 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
You just can't write it. I'm going to pick Southampton to win with Long scoring first.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1
Betting
Sky Bet make Southampton 7/10 to follow up their midweek win against Watford by securing another three points at home to West Brom (17/4) with the draw a 13/5 shot. There have been only three goals in the last five meetings so under 2.5 goals looks the obvious bet at 8/13.