Jones stated that the rock-bottom side are “gifting teams goals,” which seems a fair assessment considering each of their last three opponents have actually benefited from a Saints own goal!
Playing at St Mary’s is unlikely to improve confidence either with Southampton picking up just one league win here this season, and that was way back in August (W1, D3, L4).
In fact the nine home league defeats they registered throughout 2022 cemented the Saints’ worst calendar year since 1998, so their New Year’s resolution may be to improve upon that against relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.
The Tricky Trees will climb out of the drop zone for the first time since round five if they grab victory here, although being the worst-performing away side in the division doesn’t exactly inspire confidence (D2, L6).
Boss Steve Cooper rallied his troops after their hard-fought 1-1 draw against Chelsea to kick off 2023, stating “we’re in control of our destiny” after that home performance.
Playing away hasn’t been so fruitful though, as Forest’s one-goal PL away haul combined with the average of 2.75 goals they’ve conceded on average per match has been a recipe for disaster for the 18th-placed side.
That could be set to get even worse as former Luton boss Jones was the only manager to stop Forest from scoring twice during the 2021/22 Championship campaign (D1, L1).
Players to watch: James Ward-Prowse has been in the thick of it for Southampton lately, with a missed penalty, two goals, an assist and an own goal across their last three PL defeats! As for the visitors, only once in club history have they gone seven away league games without scoring, but they will match that unfortunate record from 1970 unless someone can pop up with a goal for the first time since Brennan Johnson scored the opener against Everton in August 2022.
Hot streak: Southampton have won their first PL game in each of the last three calendar years, but have never won four in a row.
