Southampton look to continue their winning start to the new year with a trip to high-flying Wolves

Southampton have enjoyed an excellent start to 2022 after Sport Republic’s attainment of former owner Jisheng Gao’s 80% stake in the club.

The Saints advanced in the FA Cup with a 3-2 win over Championship outfit Swansea City, albeit with the requirement of extra-time, as well as a thumping 4-1 victory in the Premier League over Brentford.

There has been little coverage of the South Coast club this term from outside of SO14, however, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men now find themselves in 11th place, above the likes of Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Everton and Brentford, granted games in hand are a factor.

A strong festive period from Southampton, which saw them record a 3-2 win against West Ham and hold onto a point against Tottenham Hotspur, has eradicated any immediate relegation concerns as they now only find themselves one point away from the top half of the table.

Next up for Hasenhuttl’s side is a trip to the Black Country as they take on Bruno Lage’s Wolves who have enjoyed a strong first half of the season.

The West Midlands outfit are eighth in the Premier League, five points away from the top six and will also be looking to extend their winning start to 2022 after a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Premier League and a 3-0 FA Cup success against Sheffield United.

Lage has tightened up the Wolves defence magnificently with his side boasting the league’s second-best defence having conceded 14 goals in 19 games.

However, it could be argued that the attention to shutting teams out has held the Wanderers back in the offensive department having scored the second-fewest goals in the league, only ahead of bottom of the league Norwich City.

Wolves are also the only side to win at St Mary’s Stadium so far this campaign after their 1-0 success on the South Coast back in September.

Team News

The visitors will welcome back Kyle Walker-Peters after the right-back tested positive for COVID-19 as well as serving a one-match ban for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Spurs.

Tino Livramento remains sidelined whilst Mohamed Elyounoussi and Theo Walcott continue their respective self-isolation periods after returning positive COVID-19 tests.

As for Wolves, Romain Saiss is competing at the Africa Cup of Nations for Morocco whilst Hwang Hee-Chan, Jonny, Pedro Neto and Yerson Mosquera remain sidelined through injury.

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