Crystal Palace – Southampton

Crystal Palace – Southampton

Crystal Palace hosts Southampton at the Selhurst Park in London in a game from the first round of the Premier League. Let’s preview this match in the coming few paragraphs.

The experienced manager Roy Hodgson did his magic again last season and helped Crystal Palace keep their place in the Premier League. The club performed in a pretty solid way and finished on a safe distance from the relegation zone. It was a successful season for the club.

Crystal Palace did their best to improve the squad during the summer. The club paid more than 17 millon euro to Queens Park Rangers for the Nigerian attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze. He’s just 22-years old, so we could call it an investment for the future. Meanwhile the right back Nathan Ferguson was signed with a free transfer from West Bromwich Albion. If the new signings click well with the team then it could be a nice upgrade for Palace.

Southampton kept their place in the Premier League after a very strong second part of the 2019/20 season. The Saints made some strong performances under the manager Ralph Hassenhuttl, so now survival remains the main goal.

During the pre-season Southampton made two important deals on the transfer market. The club paid some good money for Tottenham’s right back Kyle Walker-Peters and Real Valladolid’s centre-back Mohammed Salisu. The team had some problems in defense last season, so it’s understandable why Ralph Hassenhuttl chose to improve his backline. Defense always comes first and the Austrian manager knows this pretty well.

We can say this is a game between two teams which would be in a fight against relegation this season. If they can do something more then it’d be very nice for them and their supporters. Crystal Palace start the season at home, but without fans it’s not really that important.

Liverpool hosts Southampton

Liverpool hosts Southampton

The leader in the Premier League Liverpool hosts Southampton in a match which is another step for the Reds towards the title. Let’s have a look at this game at the Anfield Road on Saturday.

Everyone is aware right now that for Liverpool winning the Premier League title is just a matter of time. The Reds are enjoying one of the best seasons in the history of the league, having won 22 of their 23 matches and still being unbeaten. They are 16 points ahead of the champion Manchester City and they even have a game in hand. That’s spectacular.

Last week Liverpool had a tough visit to the Molineux to face Wolverhampton Wanderers, but everything went smoothly for the leaders. Liverpool conceded a goal against the Wolves, but also scored two. Jordan Henderson opened the score for Liverpool, while Roberto Firmino scored the winner just six minutes before the end.

Southampton are going to be more fresh for this game, because on Wednesday Liverpool will face West Ham in a postponed game from the Premier League. But will this actually help the Saints?

Southampton are a team which is doing very well since the Christmas holidays. Because of the good results which the Saints recorded, Southampton are now 9th in the league with 31 points. Not too while ago they were actually in the relegation zone and conceded 9 goals against Leicester City in one game. They were pretty bad, yes.

In the previous round Southampton enjoyed their 9th win for the season. Ralph Hassenhuttl’s boys visited Crystal Palace in the capital and scored a 2-0 win. Nathan Redmond opened the score for the visitors, while Stuart Armstrong doubled their lead. It was a pretty solid performance by the Saints.

Liverpool are looking so invincible right now that we can’t possibly say something else, but state the obvious – they are huge favourites against Southampton on Saturday. For them this is another step towards the title.