Southampton v Leicester: Maddison can boost Foxes from 2/1 to 6/1

• Southampton have a dire record at home

• Leicester have four away wins and score freely

• James Maddison can score and help land a Bet Builder at 7.06/1

Saints have been miserable at home

There have been bright spots at Southampton this season. They shocked Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and scored a memorable 1-0 win at Chelsea a couple of weeks ago.

But, let's be honest, they're the very clear exceptions to the rule in what has been a season of misery.

Southampton go into the weekend rock bottom of the Premier League with just 18 points from their 24 games. They're certainly not cut adrift and, if everything worked out, the south coast club could be just a point away from fourth-bottom Leeds on Sunday evening.

Home form has been a huge problem for the Saints this season and just a single win and seven losses from 11 Premier League games at St Mary's is woeful.

But if suffering Saints fans thought that was bad, how about the FA Cup exit at home to League Two Grimsby in midweek.

Many Southampton supporters hoped that Nathan Jones' exit would spark a turnaround but the Grimsby result put an end to that.

Jones' replacement, Ruben Selles, looked a hero after the win at Chelsea but following back-to-back defeats to struggling Leeds and a team 64 places beneath them in the League ladder, the honeymoon period has swiftly ended for the Spaniard.

Leicester also hurt by FA Cup loss

Southampton weren't the only team to suffer an embarrassing FA Cup exit in midweek.

Leicester were big favourites to see off Championship side Blackburn at the King Power but slipped 2-0 behind and eventually fell to a 2-1 loss.

After forgivable defeats to Manchester United (0-3) and Arsenal (0-1), the FA Cup was supposed to get Leicester firing again but that's now three straight losses in all competitions.

The last two were suffered without James Maddison in their line-up and stats show that Leicester are a completely different team when the attacking midfielder plays (see Opta stat at bottom of page).

The first question of Brendan Rodgers' pre-Southampton press conference concerned Maddison's health and the Foxes boss gave this answer: "James should be fine. Fingers crossed he gets through the rest of the week okay.

He's a very important player for us. James gives us another dimension, but ultimately it's about the team."

That will be music to the ears of Leicester fans who may have started to twitch again with their side only three points above the drop zone following another slide in a season of downs and ups.

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Outrights close with both hard to trust

There was bound to be plenty of doubt in the market here with two teams that throw in so many stinkers. And with both losing to lower league opposition in the FA Cup in midweek, confidence in either evaporated further.

Southampton are 2.8815/8 to get just their second home Premier League win of the campaign while Leicester are slight favourites at 2.727/4 to secure what would be a fifth away success.

The Draw is 3.55/2 and, if you like the 'due one' angle, Leicester haven't had a single stalemate on the road this season.

Goals on the menu with Foxes in town

Leicester's away games have certainly been entertaining affairs and the combined tally of 49 goals (21 scored and 28 conceded) is the highest for any team on their travels.

Southampton's 11 home games have yielded a far more modest 29 goals (10 scored and 19 conceded).

The contrast is reflected in the Over/Under quotes which are influenced by both angles, with Under 2.5 at 1.9310/11 just edging Over 2.5 at 2.0421/20.

Both teams to Score is more clearcut with 'Yes' at 1.834/5.

Maddison the main man

I'm not totally averse to backing Leicester at just under 2/1 but preference is to use James Maddison in a Bet Builder and take them that way.

Only nine players in the division have scored more Premier League goals than Maddison this season while just seven have provided more assists.

What's more, the former Norwich man seems to have it in for Southampton. Maddison has scored in his last three appearances against them and tallies five goals in all versus the Saints.

Maddison to score in a Leicester win pays 7.06/1 on the Bet Builder and that certainly jumps out.

In Leicester's four away victories, Maddison has netted in three of them so it's a great way to bump up the basic win price. It's an obvious bet but an obvious bet that pays such decent odds is a good way to go.

A slightly more cautious Bet Builder route is to back Leicester to win and Maddison to score or assist.

That pays 4.3100/30 and I'll take that too.

Opta stat

Since the start of last season, Leicester have won 41% of their Premier League games (18/44) and average 1.8 goals per game when James Maddison starts, compared to winning 17% (3/18) and averaging 1 goal per game when he doesn't.