Southampton welcome Stoke City to St Mary’s on Saturday in their penultimate game of the regular Championship season.
After a humbling 5-0 defeat at the hands of Leicester City on Tuesday night, the Saints are condemned to a play-off place.
Manager Russell Martin was incredibly disappointed with not only the result but the performance at the King Power.
The defeat followed an equally painful loss at Cardiff City in the previous game and Martin must now pick his players up for the final two games of the season.
The best preparation for the play-offs would be to win both their final fixtures against Stoke City and Leeds United.
Southampton beat Saturday’s visitors 1-0 in the reverse fixture, with a sumptuous Stuart Armstrong free-kick sealing all three points.
The Saints will have to make do without their goalscorer that day, though, with Armstrong set to miss the rest of the season through injury.
What to expect from Stoke City
Stoke have had a disappointing season.
The Potters find themselves 17th in the Championship and still in danger of relegation given they are just four points ahead of Birmingham City in 22nd.
They are unlikely to face the drop due to the number of teams between them and the bottom three, but that will offer Stoke fans little comfort as they will just want a tough season to end.
That being said, the side managed by Steven Schumacher have only lost once in their last five games and will be looking to secure their Championship status at St Mary’s.
Fresh off the back of a 3-0 win over fellow relegation battlers Plymouth Argyle, Stoke will travel to the south coast with the wind in their sails.
Schumacher will likely set his side up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Stoke having attacking players who could cause Southampton problems if they are still feeling sorry for themselves after Tuesday.
Sam Parkin offers Southampton v Stoke prediction
The St Mary’s clash is a difficult one to predict.
Southampton are the better team but it is difficult to know how they will perform with their play-off fate guaranteed.
After the Leicester debacle, Martin may well ring the changes and the impact of this on their performance will be intriguing.
Speaking on the The Championship Check-in podcast EFL pundit Sam Parkin offered his verdict on how events will unfold on Saturday.
Parkin – who played for a number of EFL clubs including Swindon Town and Luton Town in his career – predicted a draw.
Commenting on Southampton, Parkin said: “I think there will be some changes. I think the fringe players will do enough…but only enough for a point. 1-1.”
If Parkin is correct, this would represent a disappointing final result in front of their home supporters before the play-offs for Southampton.
