Wolves face tricky trip to St Mary’s in chase for European football

Wolves will look to continue their chase for European football next season when they travel to the south coast to face relegation fighting Southampton.

Nuno Esprito Santo’s side were knocked out of the FA Cup in spectacular fashion at the weekend, finding themselves cruising at 2-0 before Watford come back to win 3-2 after extra time. The manager and players will be determined to rectify that late collapse with a win against struggling Southampton.

Ralph Hassenhuttl meanwhile saw his side fall 3-1 at home to title chasers Liverpool, this despite being 1-0 up early in the game. Shane Long finally scored a goal to give Saints the lead before the quality of player shone through and Liverpool romped to victory.

Southampton’s game relies heavily on work ethic and running, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and James Ward-Prowse leading the charge. Both are fit and firing going into this game, the only injury concerns for Southampton are Micheal Obafemi who is out for the season and Mario Lemina. The Gabon international has suffered from a strange abdominal injury since late last year and a return date is unknown.

Wolves travel to the south with a clean bill of health. Santo can opt to play his best side knowing the chasing pack for that coveted seventh place will be eagerly awaiting a slip up from his side.

The travelling fans will be confident of a win over Southampton this weekend, the Black Country club have won four out of the last five meetings against the Saints, dating back to 2008 when both sides were in the Championship. The earlier fixture in the season at Molineux saw Saints fall 2-0, with Ivan Cavaleiro and Jonny scoring late goals to give Wolves all three points.

Southampton go into the game as favourites by the bookmakers, but have won just twice when given that tag, an 18.8% success rate. Meanwhile, Wolves have seen over two goals in each of their last three away games, with both teams scoring in each. So those travelling to St Mary’s are sure to be in for an entertaining afternoon.