Tottenham Hotspur have been sinking like a stone in the Premier League and it's hard to see Ange Postecoglou surviving if his injury-hit side drop more points on the road against rock-bottom Southampton.
It looked like the Aussie's cavalier approach would be vindicated when his side romped to a 4-0 win away to champions Manchester City to fire themselves back into the hunt for a top-four finish this season.
But Spurs' form has fallen off a cliff since then, with draws against Roma and Fulham followed by dispiriting defeats to Bournemouth and Chelsea. The former Celtic boss could then only draw with Rangers in the Europa League on Thursdays so he needs to start climbing the Premier League table to get more fans back onside.
Three points are a must against a Southampton side who are red-hot favourites for relegation after collecting just five points from their first 15 games this season.
Russell Martin's side lost 5-1 to Chelsea in their last home game, with a goals bet landing for me, but Saints will view this as opportunity to get their season up and running against a team coming off the back of a Thursday night European clash.
How the bookies view it: More pain for struggling Saints
With Southampton in such dismal form, it's not a big shock to see them as 3/1 outsiders for this one with BoyleSports. Tottenham Hotspur are 7/10 favourites and the draw pays 16/5.
Recent head to head: Spurs on top
Tottenham have held the upper hand in this fixture of late, winning six of the last 12 meetings and losing just three. When these sides last faced off in the top fight two seasons ago, Spurs on 4-1 at home before the sides battled out a 3-3 thriller at St Mary's.
Players to watch: Dejan's a Kul customer
Dejan Kulusevski has provided most of the creative spark for Spurs this season and the Swede has scored crackers in the last two games. He's 5/2 for anytime scorer with BoyleSports while Bet365 price him a tempting evens just to have an effort on target.
Youngster Tyler Dibling has been a ray of light in a bleak season for Southampton and he could get some joy against Tottenham's ropey defence. The attacking midfielder is 3/1 at BoyleSports for anytime scorer and looks overpriced for an assist at 6/1 with Bet365.
Probable line-ups
Tottenham are down to the bare bones with Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur suspended, while Cristian Romero, Wilson Odobert, Guglielmo Vicario, Ben Davies and Richarlison are injured. Micky van de Ven is also a doubt after missing out at Ibrox.
Southampton also have a long injury list, with Gavin Bazunu, Ross Stewart, Will Smallbone, Aaron Ramsdale, Adam Lallana, Paul Onuachu, Juan Larios and Jan Bednarek all missing last week's loss to Aston Villa. Defender Jack Stephens is also still suspended.
Southampton: Lumley, Walker-Peters, Manning, Harwood-Bellis, Wood, Aribo, Downes, Fernandes. Dibling, Armstrong, Archer.
Tottenham Hotspur: Forster, Udogie, Dragusin, Gray, Porro, Maddison, Kulusevski, Sarr, Son, Solanke, Johnson.
Anything else catch the eye?
Goals are usually guaranteed at both ends with Postecoglou's side and Southampton have also been involved in plenty of thrillers this term. Eight Saints games have seen over 3.5 goals and the same stat applies for nine of Tottenham's matches.
That makes over 3.5 strikes a good option here but it only pays 4/5 at BoyleSports. There's slightly more value in backing Southampton to score in the first half at 20/21 with the same firm. I also like the evens on offer for Spurs to score in both halves.
Tottenham have been great value for corners this season so that's another market worth looking at. You need to go to over 12.5 match corners to get to 23/20 with BoyleSports but over 7.5 Spurs corners looks better at the same price.
This English Premier League match between Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur will be played on Dec 15, 2024 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
