Southampton seek repeat rather than revenge in FA Cup clash with Spurs

Tottenham hope to write the wrongs of their 1-0 New Years Day defeat when they face Southampton again in an FA Cup showdown.

But if they are to exact revenge, they are once more up against a Saints side in tremendous form. Despite their 3-2 loss to Wolves at the weekend, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men bounced back with a convincing 2-0 victory at Selhurst Park in midweek and in the process, made it five wins out their last seven league games.

Just 23 days ago, Jose Mourinho and his Spurs side were on the receiving end of a reinvigorated Southampton side. Danny Ings’ first-half strike proved the difference as the hosts began the New Year in style. And after being rested during the week, the south coast talisman is expected to return to the starting line-up on the weekend.

Since that defeat, results have been somewhat mixed for Spurs, winning two out of their last five matches and only one in the Premier League.

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Following a relatively clean bill of health in recent weeks, Southampton’s injury woes are starting to manifest with Cedric (knee), Jannick Vestergaard (concussion) and Shane Long (knee) casualties from the Crystal Palace win. Yan Valery is back on the training pitch after illness but is expected to miss out. Jan Bednarek (calf) is a doubt.

The thigh injury to Harry Kane has been a talking point with the striker facing a race against time to be fit for the Euros in the summer. The forward picked up the injury at St Mary’s on New Years Day and is scheduled to undergo surgery. Moussa Sissoko (knee) continues his rehabilitation while Harry Winks (ankle) and Ben Davies (ankle) are also ruled out.

Speaking on Thursday, Ralph Hasenhuttl insisted he will go with the strongest squad available to him and expects an old-fashioned cup encounter on Saturday:

“Even if we would be lower in the table, we know about the importance of this competition. When you see the trophy, everybody wants to get their hands on it. We will go with the best possible squad to get into the next round against a strong side.

“Although we won the last game (against Spurs), we know how tough it was and are expecting another tough game. It will be a typical cup fight and at a ground where we’ll have a very good atmosphere for this game so it will be a good cup challenge.”

Jose Mourinho revealed he hopes Southampton’s extra recovery time will not play a factor in the clash. Saints played on Tuesday while Spurs played 24 hours later:

“What do I expect? I expect a team that is 24 hours fresher than another because they have 24 hours advantage in relation to that,” he said.

“A team with big self-esteem and confidence. Again, a very difficult team to play against, we learned there that it is hard and it is going to be hard.

“They are strong, they found a pattern of play, they play with two strikers and they have four or five.

“They are strong and apart from the game they lost against Wolves they win, win, win, win. Wolves is one of the teams where you can lose because they are also a very, very good team.”