Stoke City vs Southampton Preview: Possible Lineups, Team News, Predictions & More
Southampton travel to the bet365 Stadium this weekend to take on Stoke City.
Stoke's last Premier League victory came in the 1-0 triumph over Arsenal in late August, while the Saints have picked up two wins in the top flight so far this season.
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Both sets of players will be wanting to avenge last week's defeats to Chelsea and Manchester United.
Here's all you need to know about Saturday's clash.
Previous Encounters
Over the years, the two teams have traded victories fairly equally, however last season it was Stoke who took the majority of the spoils.
In this particular fixture last season, the two shared a 0-0 draw, but in the return fixture it was Mark Hughes' side who picked up the three points.
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Southampton currently sit five places higher in the league table, but the Potters certainly had the Saints' number last time around.
To check out what happened in the last encounter, you can see it here.
Team News
Mark Hughes is faced with a number of defensive problems, with both Kevin Wimmer and Geoff Cameron unlikely to feature due to hamstring problems.
In addition, Bruno Martins Indi is out until early October with a groin problem as he limped off in last week's clash with Chelsea, and captain Ryan Shawcross is also a doubt.
The defensive line will see the return of Kurt Zouma, who sat out against parent club Chelsea last week. Stoke missed his presence at the back last week, so fans will be happy to see him return to action.
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Speaking to the club's website, boss Mark Hughes declared that he had "never known anything like having most of them (defenders) unavailable."
Unlike their opponents this Saturday, Southampton have plenty of choices at their disposal. Fortunately for boss Mauricio Pellegrino, second choice left-back Matt Targett is Southampton's only injury concern.
Despite returning to the squad a couple of weeks ago, Virgil van Dijk is a doubt to start the game as Saints manager Mauricio Pellegrino could continue to favour Maya Yoshida and Wesley Hoedt over the former Celtic defender.
Whilst Pellegrino has stuck with the conventional four at the back so far this season, expect Mark Hughes to continue using three in defence.
Predicted Stoke City XI: Butland, Johnson, Zouma, Pieters, Diouf, Allen, Fletcher, Sobhi, Shaqiri, Jesé, Choupo-Moting
Predicted Southampton XI: Forster, Cedric, Yoshida, Hoedt, Bertrand, Lemina, Romeo, Redmond, Davis, Tadic, Long
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Prediction
There is no clear favourite for this weekend's clash at the bet365 Stadium, and judging on past results and performances this season you would be wise to expect a tight encounter.
Mark Hughes may begin to come under fire if Stoke suffer yet another loss, but the Southampton elite cannot be happy with their side's showings this season either.
Due to the sheer quality of players such as Jesé and Xherdan Shaqiri, expect Stoke to edge past Southampton via one of the two game-changing players.
Prediction: Stoke City 1-0 Southampton
