Southampton (home)
- Southampton have won their last two home games (W2, D2, L1).
- However, Saints have won their last two at home, beating Swansea City 3-1 and Bristol City 4-1, so they should have enough momentum to see off this Bolton side.
- Southampton are a compact side who look to hit on the counter attack with a number of players arriving into the box.
Bolton Wanderers (away)
- Bolton Wanderers are 17th in the Championship with ten points from nine games.
- Bolton have managed a win, a draw and two defeats in their four away Championship matches.
- Steven Schumacher has the visitors well drilled in a shape-first 4-2-3-1 system that can sit deep and block the ball well before counter-punching.
Key Players
- The Saints are a work in progress, but they have an extremely dangerous player in Cyle Larin, who has seven goals in eight Championship games.
- The Canadian has scored three of Southampton's last ten in their last five matches and may be on a hot streak here.
- Bolton will be well aware of the threat, which they should be as the former Orlando City striker is a similar physical type to their own dangerman Sam Dalby, who has bagged three in eight in the second tier.
Betting Insights
- There may well be a goal in this game for the Trotters, who have scored an average of 1.50 goals per game on their travels in the Championship this term.
- The Saints are 1.46 favorites for Saturday's game, which is about right given Bolton are 5.83 with the draw 4.6.
- There may be value in Southampton to win with both teams scoring, but the home form of Tonda Eckert's men makes the short odds on the hosts quite palatable in this spot.
- The draw is unlikely given their four-game winning run on their own patch and the fact they have only conceded 1.00 goals per home Championship fixture (avg 3.75 total goals).
Prediction
- Southampton should have the quality and confidence to take the win at home to Bolton, but don't be surprised if the Trotters manage to nick one themselves in what is an interesting Championship matchup at St. Mary's Stadium.
- Saints are the clear pick to win, but this should be a closer match than the odds suggest.