Southampton vs Tottenham: Expect entertainment as out of form pair do battle

• Martin embarrassed by Saints' points haul

• Postecoglou experiencing 'worst ever' injury crisis

• Expect entertainment at St Mary's

• Place £10 bet on any sport on the Betfair Exchange to start your Free Bet Streak

• Get an extra boost on your Premier League Bet Builders this Christmas with Betfair

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Southampton vs Tottenham
Sunday December 15, 19:00
Live on TNT Sport

Saints have deserved more, says Martin

Southampton manager Russell Martin says the club's Premier League points tally so far this season is "incredibly hurtful and embarrassing". Saints sit rock-bottom with just five points from their first 15 games (W1-D2-L12) - the strugglers are already eight points away from safety and have posted a -20 goal difference since returning to the top-flight.

Despite the disappointment, Martin believes Southampton can turn the tide. He said: "We shouldn't be on the points that we are - we should have more. But there have been a few too many mistakes and a few too many moments that we haven't managed well. We are not far away and we have to just keep working, keep concentrating on the process."

Martin has been boosted by the return of Jan Bednarek, Paul Onuachu and Adam Lallana for Sunday night's showdown at St Mary's, and whilst the game comes too soon for Aaron Ramsdale, second-choice goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is available again and should take Joe Lumley's place between the sticks. However, skipper Jack Stephens is still suspended.

Spurs hit hard by defensive injuries

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says his squad's injury crisis is the worst he has ever faced as a manager ahead of the weekend's trip to Southampton. Spurs have slumped to 11^th in the Premier League and produced a below-par effort at Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday night where 18-year-old Archie Gray was used as a makeshift central defender.

Postecoglou lost regular centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in their 4-3 defeat to Chelsea last weekend, with both likely to require spells in the treatment room. Ben Davies is also sidelined, leaving Radu Dragusin as the only available centre-half. Guglielmo Vicario is also out, alongside Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Postecoglou said: "It is the worst crisis I have ever known by a fair stretch. It's challenging. It's no secret we're thin on numbers, both squad-wise and position-wise. We'll have to deal with what we've got. We've still got five or six games to navigate, so we may have to get creative at some point. We're exploring what we can do differently to avoid this again."

Avoid Tottenham at odds-on

Southampton have suffered a solitary home league loss in six when welcoming Tottenham to St Mary's (W2-D3-L1) and Saints have also managed to net in each of their last 15 fixtures against Spurs, their longest such streak against an opponent in the Premier League. However, they've also failed to keep a clean sheet in 21 of the last 22 EPL meetings.

Southampton 4.407/2 prop up the Premier League table and are also rock-bottom on Expected Points (xP), allowing a massive 2.37 Expected Goals (xG) per-game. Saints have conceded seven goals from defensive errors - a league-high - and have picked up just one point from 11 matches against teams outside of the current bottom-six (W0-D1-L10).

Tottenham 1.794/5 have dropped into the bottom-half of the Premier League following four defeats in their past seven showdowns (W2-D1-L4). Spurs have also struggled on their travels this term (W2-D1-L4), while Ange Postecoglou's injury-hit side have been beaten in 14 of their 33 EPL dates in 2024, enough evidence to leave them alone at odds-on quotes.

Both sides to oblige

Goals should be on the agenda at St Mary's with the sides managing just four shutouts between them in 30 combined Premier League outings. Saints have scored in three of their last four encounters - including home match-ups with both Liverpool and Chelsea - and should have the ability to trouble a Tottenham team down to the bare bones at centre-back.

We can partner Both Teams To Score, alongside Tottenham Over 4.5 Corners and Southampton Over 1.5 Goals for a statistically-strong 1.9720/21 Bet Builder on Sunday. Spurs have been corner kings this term, winning 5+ flag-kicks in 87% of their top-flight tussles, forcing 9+ corners in seven of their 15 showdowns. Saints have faced 6+ corners in 80% of games.

Meanwhile, Southampton have earned at least three cards in 14 of their 15 league fixtures since promotion, averaging 3.60 cards per-game. Saints' card numbers at St Mary's this season read: 3-3-4-7-4-3-3, which tallies nicely with Tottenham's ability to draw punishment - Spurs have seen all bar one of their hosts hit the required Over 1.5 Cards mark.

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