Match Pack: Saints vs Cardiff City
Saints will step out at St Mary's for the second time in four days as they host Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon. Get set for the Sky Bet Championship clash with our Match Pack...
THE MATCH
Saints vs Cardiff City
Sky Bet Championship
St Mary's Stadium
Saturday 2nd December, 3:00pm GMT
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: James Bell
Assistants: Ian Cooper, Andrew Dallison
Fourth official: Neil Hair
Saints at St Mary's, what else would you need on a Saturday afternoon?
HOW TO WATCH?
There will be no video coverage of Saturday's game on Saints Play to fans in the UK and Ireland because of the 3pm kick-off blackout, but it will be available to all international fans. The cost for a Video Pass for this game will be £10 unless you are an international supporter with a Seasonal Video Pass, where it is included.
Alternatively, everyone, including those of you in the UK and Ireland, will be able to listen to audio coverage of the weekend’s action. A Monthly Audio Pass will cost £4.49, unless you have already purchased a Seasonal or Monthly Audio Pass, where it is included.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Russell Martin's side are now ten games unbeaten with their impressive form stretching all the way back to the end of September.
For Cardiff, their recent form has been intermittent but they sit just three points outside of the playoffs and will hope to close that gap even further with a return to winning ways after midweek defeat.
TEAM NEWS
Southampton manager Russell Martin has confirmed that attacking duo Ross Stewart and Kamaldeen Sulemana will be ruled out until the new year with injuries picked up during the past week.
"Both be out for quite a while," he confirmed. "It's really disappointing for different reasons. We’re really heartbroken for Ross but it’s not the same injury, I feel like we haven’t rushed him, everyone’s been in agreement with the plan. It's really unfortunate and we're really disappointed.
"We won’t expect him this side of Christmas, more likely mid-to-late January. Kamaldeen felt his hamstring on Wednesday night and he’ll have a similar timeline to Ross.
"It's two big losses but when someone gets injured it’s an opportunity for someone else. They’ll get everyone’s best care and attention."
THE MANAGERS
Russell Martin: “[Cardiff will be] aggressive, physical, their new manager has really come in and stamped his authority on the team.
"I think they've recruited well and they were on a brilliant run of form, but have hit a sticky patch recently with some tough games. It'll be an interesting one to see how they set up and if it's similar or different to Bristol City and Huddersfield.
"I feel like we're in a really good place, but they've had an extra of recovery this week so more than ever we need to make sure [the game is] how we want it to be and not how they want."
Erol Bulut: “This is a good test for my players and for myself; to play against a good team. We’ve improved a lot since the start of the season up to today, but we will not stop now.
"We fear nobody. We know our quality, we know the quality of the opponent, and maybe face better teams, but everything is on the field. If you do hard work on the field, anything is possible, so we don’t need to fear anybody."
TOP SCORERS
Southampton
Goals:
Adam Armstrong 10
Adams, Smallbone 3
Walker-Peters, Edozie, Fraser, Alcaraz, S Armstrong 2
Assists:
A Armstrong 4
Kamaldeen 3
Walker-Peters, Adams, Manning 2
Cardiff City
Goals:
Etete 5
Ugbo 4
Colwill, Ng, Ramsey 3
Assists:
Ralls 4
Wintle, Grant, Collins 3
Colwill, O'Dowda 2
ONES TO WATCH
Sam Edozie: With Kamaldeen Sulemana sidelined until at least January, Saints are in need of someone to fill the Ghanaian's boots after he had started the previous five games.
Edozie's last start came away to Preston and the 20-year-old has shown impressive glimpses during this campaign, scoring his first two senior goals earlier in the season.
Kion Etete: The 22-year-old forward has found some scoring form so far this season, leading the Bluebirds' charts with 5 goals in 14 games.
In his second full season back in senior football, after leaving Tottenham's academy, and donning Cardiff's number nine shirt, Etete could be a player to watch throughout the season as well as during Saturday's clash.
Kion Etete (centre) celebrates scoring for Cardiff.
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 55
Saints: 19
Draws: 15
Cardiff: 21
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
February 2019: Saints 1-2 Cardiff (Stephens)
December 2018: Cardiff 1-0 Saints
April 2014: Saints 0-1 Cardiff
December 2013: Cardiff 0-3 Saints (Rodriguez 2, Lambert)
January 2012: Saints 1-1 Cardiff (Lambert)
DID YOU KNOW?
Russell Martin has enjoyed recent success against Cardiff when he completed a league double over them during his time as Swansea manager.
It was the first time in the 110-year history of the fierce South Wales derby that Swansea had beaten their rivals twice in the league.
The last time Saints did the double over Cardiff in the league was during the 1965/66 Division Two campaign.
KEEP UP TO DATE
Not joining us at St Mary’s? We’ve got you covered! We’ll bring you all the behind-the-scenes content alongside the in-game action as Saints travel to Huddersfield.
Check out our interactive match centre at southamptonfc.com, with live streaming of the game, key updates and audio commentary of the match, and be sure to download the official Saints app and follow us on social media for further updates and exclusive content:
