In what is surely nothing more than a dead rubber, Southampton welcome Crystal Palace to St Mary's for Tuesday evening's Premier League battle.
The visitors ensured their top-flight status for another year with a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United on Saturday, while Southampton are still waiting to confirm their safety after a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool.
Match preview
Southampton had their moments against Liverpool but just could not find a way past the seemingly impenetrable wall of Alisson Becker, although Che Adams will certainly be reliving his missed opportunity after the Reds shot-stopper played the ball straight to him before redeeming himself with a save down low.
Sadio Mane opened the scoring against his former club before Thiago Alcantara's first Liverpool goal ultimately saw the soon-to-be dethroned champions march to a 2-0 success over Southampton, whose winless streak across all competitions has now stretched to five matches.
It is still mathematically possible Ralph Hasenhuttl's 16th-placed side to be demoted to Championship football, but victory on Tuesday would ensure survival no matter what happens in Fulham or West Bromwich Albion's matches, although it has certainly been a woeful end to an initially promising campaign.
A spate of injuries to key men has hardly helped the Saints' cause, and even though they have suffered defeat in only one of their last four Premier League matches at St Mary's, they are without a clean sheet in seven on home soil.
Furthermore, only one game in that run has ended with Southampton taking all three points - their thrilling 3-2 win over Burnley last month - and midweek fixtures are not exactly their forte, as they have failed to win any of their last 10 league games on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursdays.
Palace were actually the latest victims of a midweek Saints win all the way back in January 2020, but the Eagles travel south with nothing but pride to play for after victory at already-relegated Sheffield United confirmed their survival.
Unsurprisingly, the star of the show was Eberechi Eze, who took just two minutes to set up the opener for Christian Benteke before adding gloss to the scoreline with a second in the 88th minute, and that result means that the Eagles will fly high in the top division for the 2021-22 season.
Palace are now sitting pretty in 13th spot, but a top-half finish is out of their reach and they must look ahead to a rather challenging end to the campaign, as they prepare to host Aston Villa and Arsenal before travelling to Liverpool on the final day of the season.
Victory at Bramall Lane ended a four-game winless run for Palace in the top flight - as well as representing their first away win since beating Brighton & Hove Albion on February 22 - but focus will surely now turn to the plethora of players whose contracts will expire next month, not to mention the uncertainty surrounding Hodgson's future.
A Wilfried Zaha winner gave Palace a 1-0 win over Southampton earlier in the season, but the Eagles have not enjoyed a league double over the Saints since the 1990-91 season.
- L
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
Southampton boss Hasenhuttl is optimistic that Danny Ings's thigh injury will not keep him out for too much longer, but the hosts may aim to keep him fit for the weekend's clash with Fulham rather than risk him on Tuesday.
The Saints will be boosted by the return of Takumi Minamino after he was ineligible to face Liverpool, and the Japanese attacker could earn a spot out wide if Hasenhuttl feels the need to introduce fresh legs.
There is also optimism that Oriol Romeu can return to team training next week, but Ryan Bertrand and Will Smallbone are both expected to miss the remainder of the season with calf and knee problems respectively.
Palace's injury crisis has alleviated somewhat in recent weeks, but long-term absentees Connor Wickham, Nathan Ferguson and Mamadou Sakho are not expected back just yet.
James McArthur is also struggling to shake off a calf issue, but James Tomkins has an outside chance of coming back into contention after turning out for the Under-23s.
With nothing at stake at St Mary's, Hodgson may be tempted to chop and change his starting XI this week, which could see the likes of Jairo Riedewald, James McCarthy and maybe even Jean-Philippe Mateta handed starts.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Stephens; Minamino, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Djenepo; Redmond, Adams
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Dann, Van Aanholt; Ayew, Milivojevic, Riedewald; Eze; Zaha, Benteke
We say: Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace
With neither team inspiring much confidence and having very little to play for on Tuesday, it is difficult to see a clear winner in this contest.
Rotation can be expected on both ends as the two managers look to avoid any needless injuries at the end of the campaign, and we are struggling to look past a low-scoring draw at St Mary's.
Top tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
body check tags ::
