Southampton vs Bournemouth Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Southampton fans insist it isn’t a rivalry as we have two south coast sides meeting at St Mary’s this weekend with top four chasing AFC Bournemouth travelling to rock-bottom Saints.
Kick-off date/time: Saturday 15th February, 2025: UK – 3:00pm / US ET – 10:00am / US PT – 7:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – Peacock
Southampton Preview: Saints require a miracle
Ivan Juric’s Southampton require a miracle but they have given themselves a confidence boost with a victory in their most recent Premier League outing, defeating Ipswich Town by two goals to one at Portman Road a couple of weeks ago.
Saints failed to back that up, though, as Marcus Edwards scored a second-half winner for Championship side Burnley in the fourth round of the FA Cup last weekend. Southampton begin the weekend sitting ten points adrift of Wolverhampton Wanderers in 17th.
Bournemouth Preview: Cherries on the push
In contrast to Southampton, Bournemouth actually recovered from a recent loss in the league with a cup win as Andoni Iraola’s Cherries eased their way through to the fifth round of the FA Cup thanks to a 2-0 win at Goodison Park against Everton last weekend.
Their recent league outing saw them suffer a 2-0 defeat at home to league leaders Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium a couple of weeks ago. They remain in contention for UEFA Champions League qualification with that being their only loss in their last 14 games in all competitions.
Southampton Team News: Key centre-back injuries
In his pre-match press conference, Ivan Juric has confirmed that defensive duo Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jack Stephens will both be unavailable for this weekend having picked up issues a couple of weeks ago. Experienced midfielder Adam Lallana is also, once again, a doubt for the hosts.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Ramsdale; Bree, Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Sugawara, Ugochukwu, Aribo, Welington; Fernandes, Gronbaek; Onuachu
Unavailable: Harwood-Bellis (Injured), Stephens (Injured), Stewart (Injured)
Questionable: Larios (Fitness), Downes (Fitness), Lallana (Fitness), Fraser (Fitness)
Bournemouth Team News: Kluivert will 'be there'
Andoni Iraola has been dealing with lots of injuries for a couple of months now and some key men remain absent but both Luis Sinisterra and Alex Scott could return to the squad this weekend. Key attacker Justin Kluivert is expected to be involved and has said he will 'be there' despite his partner in the final stages of her pregnancy.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Kepa; Cook, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Christie, Adams; Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo; Ouattara
Unavailable: Senesi (Injured), Hill (Injured), Smith (Injured), Araujo (Injured), Soler (International duty), Evanilson (Injured), Unal (Injured)
Questionable: Scott (Fitness), Sinisterra (Fitness), Kluivert (Personal reasons)
Southampton vs Bournemouth Prediction
Southampton, as mentioned, have enjoyed some improvement in terms of their performance level and Saints managed to defeat fellow strugglers Ipswich to actually have something to show for that. However, during Juric’s reign, they have also been humiliated and Bournemouth are a side well set up and well coached to humiliate a weak side with their suffocating and attacking, pressurised style of football. A comfortable away win is to be expected, once again, at St Mary’s.
Southampton vs Bournemouth Tip: Bournemouth to win -1 handicap
