da 888： Southampton face a must-win Premier League clash against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Thursday night as they look to avoid suffering relegation to the Championship.
da leao： The 18th-placed Saints looked to be on course to close the gap to the sides above them when they led Chelsea 2-0 at St Mary’s on Saturday with just 20 minutes of the match remaining, but three goals for the visitors in a crazy nine-minute spell saw them fall to a fourth successive top flight defeat that has left them on the brink of going down.
Mark Hughes’ men come into the match against the Foxes five points from safety with just five games remaining, and with the champions Manchester City visiting the south coast on the final day they will know that they need to pick up victories sooner rather than later if they overtake the likes of Swansea City and Huddersfield Town above them.
Despite their own poor form, the Welsh manager will be buoyed by the fact that Claude Puel’s side have lost successive fixtures against Newcastle United and Burnley.
Hughes, who was questioned by his own fans following his selection on Sunday, brought in Jan Bednarek for the suspended Jack Stephens against Chelsea as he stuck with a 3-4-2-1 system, but he could be considering making more changes for the visit to the east Midlands considering his team suffered such a big collapse last time out and with the fact that Mario Lemina, Sofiane Boufal, Manolo Gabbiadini and Charlie Austin all started on the substitutes’ bench.
Here is how Southampton must line up against Leicester…
Alex McCarthy has been between the sticks for Southampton since Boxing Day but after conceding 12 goals in his last four Premier League appearances, Mark Hughes should look to give Fraser Forster a chance to stake his claim in the team at the King Power Stadium.
Elsewhere, Jan Bednarek, Maya Yoshida and Wesley Hoedt collapsed in the final 20 minutes against Chelsea and were slammed by the fans on Twitter after the match, and the Welsh manager should look to bring Ryan Bertrand in as a left-sided centre-back in a three-man defence, alongside Wesley Hoedt and Maya Yoshida with Bednarek dropping to the substitutes’ bench.
Hughes once again stuck with a midfield duo of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oriol Romeu against Chelsea with Bertrand and Cedric Soares as wing-backs, but he should look to change things up against Leicester.
If Bertrand is utilised as a centre-back, the Welsh boss should bring in Sam McQueen at left wing-back following his impressive performance in the 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford on December 30, and he should play James Ward-Prowse alongside Hojbjerg and Romeu in the middle of the park, with Sunday’s goalscorer Dusan Tadic the man to drop out.
Hughes has gone with one up top in the last two matches with Shane Long starting playing a lone role against both Arsenal and Chelsea, but he should bring top goalscorer Charlie Austin in to feature alongside the Republic of Ireland international at the King Power Stadium.
Austin showed with his substitute appearance against Arsenal the goalscoring threat he brings to the team, and while they are so suspect at the back they need players who can find the net on the pitch.
Long will certainly trouble Leicester’s defenders with his pace and never-say-die style of play, and they could prove to be a fruitful partnership against the Foxes.
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