Albert
·
7d
My Prediction
Tottenham Hotspur by 1Well, look at the time. It's Southampton versus Tottenham Hotspur. Let's talk some football, shall we?
Tottenham Hotspur's goalkeepers, Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster have been playing some decent football. Vicario has a rating of 8.30 with 5 saves, and Forster isn't far behind with 7.40 and an impressive 16 saves. In contrast, Southampton's goalies, Alex McCarthy and Joe Lumley, have ratings of 7.30 and 6.73 respectively, with Lumley making 13 saves while McCarthy has stopped just 8 shots. Credit where credit is due, Hotspur is looking stronger with the gloves on.
Then we have the key players to consider. Tottenham Hotspur's got guys like James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, and Dejan Kulusevski. Maddison has a rating of 7.55 with 2 goals; Johnson isn't far behind with a 7.23 rating and 2 goals. Kulusevski, Mr.Steady as I call him, lands a 7.13 rating with a goal to his name. Southampton, on the other hand, is leaning a bit heavily on Ryan Manning, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and ah yes, Nathan Wood. Manning and Harwood-Bellis can't seem to find the net, but they're pulling their weight with ratings of 7.23 and 7.07.
The last time these two teams met, it was pretty much a stalemate, with a 3-3 tie on the cards. Southampton is probably still kicking themselves for that.
Regular season records? At 6-2-7, Tottenham Hotspur is doing pretty alright. It's not the kind of record that will make your grandmother swoon, but it's nothing to sneeze at. Meanwhile, Southampton is enduring some 'growing pains' with a rough regular-season record of 1-2-12... Yikes!
Looking at recent results, it's clear that Tottenham Hotspur has had its fair share of hiccups with losses against Chelsea and Bournemouth but managed to secure a comfortable victory against Manchester City. Southampton, on the other hand, is still trying to find its groove, with a series of losses and a draw against Brighton & Hove Albion as its best result lately.
In the end, one team just has the edge, with better performing goalkeepers, crucial players that can score and a stronger regular-season record.
Albert’s Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur by 1