Tonda Eckert’s Saints face the sting of managerless Watford this weekend at St Mary’s.
The Saints enter the weekend sitting 14th in the table with 40 points from 30 matches, while the Hornets are six places higher in 8th, having amassed 44 points from the same number of fixtures.
Javi Gracia resigned from his position at Watford after he “felt he no longer had the motivation and was not the right man to continue coaching this exciting group of young players.”
Charlie Daniels, Dan Gosling and Adrian Mariappa will take charge of the team until a replacement comes in.
Watford are searching for their fourth boss of the season; more managers than away wins this season is not something Watford fans will like.
The Saints, on the other hand, are on a positive run for their standards this season. Unbeaten in the last three, with two wins against Sheffield United and Stoke most recently.
Southampton’s Championship campaign has been defined by inconsistency, with their perfectly balanced record of 10 wins, 10 draws and 10 defeats reflecting their mid-table position.
Watford only sit three points off the playoff positions, whereas the Saints can only dream of such a thing this season.
The last time these two faced, Will Still was in charge, Ryan Manning scored a free-kick, and Cameron Archer started a football match. I can not say that any of these things will ever happen again.
Top scorer Adam Armstrong completed a deadline day move to next year’s Championship rivals Wolves, leaving Southampton without even fewer options up front.
However, new signing Cyle Larin is poised to make his debut for Southampton, not a name people have heard of, 30 years old and one goal in 15 games this season for Feyenoord.
The answer to the Saints’ scoring problem may still be hiding.
Team News:
Southampton will be without youngster Cameron Bragg, who is sidelined with a hamstring issue.
Mads Roerslev continues to be unavailable after suffering a knee injury back in November, while Oriol Romeu is another absentee as he continues his recovery from an ankle issue.
Samuel Edozie is getting closer to a comeback after a hamstring injury, but is not yet ready to return to the lineup.
Watford will be without Hector Kyprianou, who is recovering from a hand injury.
Mattie Pollock is another player who has been sidelined after sustaining a hamstring injury against Portsmouth, which has ruled him out of Watford’s last two fixtures.
Rocco Vata is another who has suffered a hamstring setback, while Pierre Dwomoh is not expected back until mid-February.
