Dan s in confident mood ahead of the arrival of Tottenham Hotspur, but does he think that Saints can beat the North London Yobbos.

After a few days of enjoying the festivities of Christmas, Saints will be back in action at St. Mary’s as they host Tottenham on Wednesday.

Both sides will come into the fixture after win, Southampton winning 3-1 away at Bournemouth and Spurs a 2-1 win at home to Burnley. It is also fair to say that both sides will be full of confidence after recent results and performances.

Tottenham are experiencing another impressive Premier League campaign after narrowly missing out on the title last season after a spectacular and surprising campaign. They currently sit in fifth place with 33 points, just one off of the Champions League places meaning they may be determination to get a result on Wednesday night if other results go their way.

They also did well to become the final side of the Premier League’s twenty to lose a league game this season after losing to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

However, since that loss, Spurs have lost another time, away at Manchester United but have won three times (all at home), scoring nine goals and conceding just the one; this run included a 5-0 thrashing of Swansea.

But, of late Southampton have been getting themselves back up in the league, especially after a disappointing exit in Europe. A win against Middlesbrough at home and then an away draw at Stoke and another win away at Bournemouth has built up a strong flow of confidence in the dressing room.

Saints should also gain confidence from turning St.Mary’s into a bit of a fortress. They have lost just three times at home in all competitions over the calendar year, twice in the league to Chelsea and to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup back in January.

They have taken 71% of the points available in the league at home in 2016 (11W 4D 2L). And yes, I did do the maths myself.

This is a very impressive record when you only consider the Premier League and as there are only two more games to be played at St,Mary’s at 2016 I thought I would make a bit
of a boast about it…

Saints will only be without Jordy Clasie who is recovering from a groin problem and Spurs have the likes of former Southampton-loanee Toby Alderweireld and Vincent Jaansen returning to their side but Erik Lamela remains on the sideline.

Prediction: This is one we could definitely win which would create an even bigger surge of
confidence going into the new year, which, when you think about it is necessary with the heavy clash of fixtures in January.

However, I think Spurs have lots of quality, especially as they have Alderweireld coming back. Both sides are defensively sound but Saints have found a bit of goalscoring
form so I’ll predict a 1-1 draw which won’t be a bad result at all!

Photo: Action Images

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