AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth will tomorrow be hoping to break their win duck against Southampton at St Mary’s when they lock horns with their Premier League neighbours (8pm kick-off).
The Cherries have picked up two points at the venue with Callum Wilson’s double and a Dan Gosling goal earning them a share of the spoils from an eventful 3-3 draw at the end of last season.
While the Saints may have had the upper hand at St Mary’s in the top flight, the Cherries have finished above them in the past two years.
After five games this season, there is little to separate the two clubs in the table with the Cherries one place above the Saints by virtue of having scored three more goals than their rivals.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team have collected seven points from wins over Brighton and Sheffield United and a 1-1 draw with Manchester United. They lost their first two games against Burnley and Liverpool.
Ahead of the game, afcb.co.uk caught up with Adam Leitch, who covers the fortunes of Southampton for the Daily Echo.
afcb.co.uk: How have Southampton started the season?
AL: It’s been a very interesting start for the Saints. The opening day saw a 3-0 defeat at Burnley where the game unravelled in a short space of time.
Since then, they have been better and have picked up a healthy number of points but without really giving the feeling they have played brilliantly for more than patches of games.
Given there was a fair amount of trepidation surrounding the opening to the season given the tough fixture schedule they had, the results have been more than acceptable.
afcb.co.uk: Who has been the pick of the summer signings?
AL: Moussa Djenepo (pictured above) has been the one who has grabbed the headlines for his goals and especially his amazing solo effort to secure the win at Sheffield United on Saturday.
He is really pacy, skilful, full of attacking intent and can finish.
Of the others, Che Adams has led the line well and is ever improving but has been utterly luckless when it comes to getting a first goal.
Kevin Danso has looked solid but has thus far been limited to playing at left-back rather than the centre-half role he was primarily brought in for.
afcb.co.uk: What were your thoughts on Ryan Bertrand being named on the bench against Sheffield United?
AL: It was an interesting decision, that is for sure.
Bertrand is the only recognised senior left-back/left wing-back at the club, so to decide to play other players out of position ahead of him was interesting, especially when Ralph confirmed he was fit.
It’s an interesting subplot to the current Saints narrative and it will be interesting to see whether he comes back in to face Bournemouth or not with Danso available again after suspension.
afcb.co.uk: What sort of job has Ralph Hasenhuttl (pictured above) done?
AL: He has an awful lot of credit in the bank despite having only joined Saints in December.
The club really were in a perilous position when he joined and he quickly turned things around such that they went from being a favourite for relegation to all but safe a fair few games before the end of the season.
The challenge now is for him to reshape the squad and get the team playing the kind of football he wants to try to bring back some measure of success to Saints.
afcb.co.uk: Who are the dangermen to look out for?
AL: Djenepo is an obvious one but Adams is due a goal and has been doing everything but scoring and you feel his time is about to come.
Sofiane Boufal has been good since his return from a season on loan at Celta Vigo and his quick feet and seemingly rejuvenated attitude under Hasenhuttl also make him a threat.
afcb.co.uk: If they had to settle for beating either the Cherries on Friday or Pompey next Tuesday, which would most supporters choose?
AL: Pompey. That’s not even a close-run thing!
It’s the game the Saints and Pompey fans care about more than any other and the importance of the match is exacerbated by the fact the clubs play each other so rarely.
When you consider that Pompey have the better of the recent record and that Saints haven’t won at Fratton Park since way back in 1984, you can imagine how desperate the supporters are to claim the bragging rights.
afcb.co.uk: What’s your score prediction?
AL: 2-0 to Saints.
You can follow Adam on Twitter – @adamleitchsport
Match officials: Chris Kavanagh (referee), Daniel Cook (assistant), Sian Massey-Ellis (assistant), Craig Pawson (fourth official), Graham Scott (VAR), Simon Long (assistant VAR).
