Unavailable: Southampton – Forster, Gardoş, Bertrand, Clasie
Norwich
– Mulumbu, Grabban
In the build up to this weekend’s
contest, Norwich shot stopper John Ruddy declared that Southampton were in a
state of “disarray”. If the England international thought that was the case on
Thursday afternoon, he along with his teammates would have been given further
hope as they no doubt witnessed Saints’ limp exit at the final stage of
qualifying in the Europa League. Yet, “disarray” is a rather hyperbolic word to
describe Southampton’s current predicament. While it would be naïve to ignore
the importance of the loss to FC Midtjylland and the great disappointment it brought
to Saints fans, it does not signify a crisis at St Mary’s. Not if one analyses
the resilient backbone that the club has displayed on any previous occasion in
the past few years when the going has got tough. This fighting spirit was
epitomised by José Fonte’s genuinely emotional post-match interview on Thursday
in which he apologised to Southampton fans, but just like in the summer of 2014,
it will be objective results on the pitch that will be measured – not words.
Southampton did exceptionally well to wrong the doubters on that occasion and
they must repeat the trick once more.
This Sunday acts as an opportunity to
soothe the raw wounds opened up by the Wolves in Denmark however this will be
no mean feat. Norwich are notoriously tricky customers away from home and the
Canaries are unbeaten in their travels since the start of 2015. It is no
coincidence that this was also the moment when Alex Neil walked through the
door at Carrow Road. The 34-year-old Scot has reinvigorated the East Anglia
club while retaining much of the squad that was relegated two years ago,
therefore Premier League experience is in abundance in his dressing room. Moreover,
he has inspired a decent start to the season. The Canaries have earned four
points however they have been unfortunate not to have secured more from their
opening three games. Yet Southampton will be hungry to spoil Norwich’s good
form and make Ruddy mince his words come Sunday evening.
Key
Battles
Soares
v Brady: This
will be the contest of the attacking full backs if Koeman elects to give the
Portuguese the nod. These two will both be sprinting down the wing in an
attempt to give their respective sides genuine width. In Robbie Brady, Norwich
have a player who has real quality when whipping the ball in from crossing positions
and Cédric Soares will have to effectively shackle the Manchester United academy
graduate. Moreover, Soares may be at a disadvantage when defending as it is
likely that Koeman will select one of Sadio Mané, Dušan Tadić or Shane Long in
front of him on the right. While all of these players track back well, they are
still very offensively minded in comparison with Jonny Howson who will give Brady
ample protection. Soares was overawed against Everton and he will want to
exhibit his talent to the St Mary’s faithful if selected ahead of Cuco Martina.
Targett
v Redmond: Nathan
Redmond has consistently been linked with Southampton over the past few summers
but Saints have supposedly been reluctant to match Norwich’s valuation of the
England Under-21 international. They may well be made to pay for that decision
on Sunday. Redmond has improved year on year as he develops his game and has
become a real peril for the opposition’s defence. He enjoys getting chalk on
his boots and finding crosses for Norwich frontman Cameron Jerome, but is also
very able when he comes inside. There was a pertinent example of this in Norwich’s
match against Sunderland when Redmond played a clever one-two on the inside
right channel before slotting the ball home. Therefore, Matt Targett will have
to have his wits about him. Like his teammates, the young full back has had a
challenging start to the season. Last weekend against Watford, Targett
struggled with the pace of Ikechi Anya and he will have no respite this time
out. Reportedly, Targett was ill but such is the current pressure on the
England Under-21 international with the absence of Ryan Bertrand, he has had to
play every game. Undoubtedly, Targett has not developed as quickly as Luke Shaw
before him however he does show real promise. He excelled in the home leg against
Midtjylland and he will have to repeat that form if he wishes to seriously
challenge Bertrand upon his return to action. On Sunday, it will be necessary
for him to remain vigilant in his positioning as the unpredictability and pace
of Redmond has the potential to be a real threat to Saints’ backline.
Possible
Line-ups
Southampton: Stekelenburg –
Soares, Fonte (C), Yoshida, Targett – Wanyama, Romeu – Mané, S. Davis, Tadić –
Pellè
K.
Davis, Long, Rodriguez, Martina, Ward-Prowse, Juanmi, Caulker
Norwich: Ruddy –
Whittaker, Martin (C), Bassong, Brady – Redmond, Dorrans, Tettey, Howson –
Hoolahan – Jerome
Rudd,
Wisdom, Johnson, van Wolfswinkel, Hooper, R. Bennett, O’Neil
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