Kick-off: 1200, 13/12/2020
Stadium: St Mary’s Stadium
TV: Sky Sports
High-flying Southampton have a great chance to continue their excellent Premier League form when entertaining struggling Sheffield United.
Saints will be seeking to make it seven wins in 10 top-flight fixtures, while the Blades are trying to avoid a seventh consecutive defeat.
The obvious option is to snap up 7/10 for a home victory as our first Southampton vs Sheff Utd prediction.
A Look At Southampton’s Betting Odds
Southampton enjoyed the rub of the green when a late penalty helped them to edge out Brighton 2-1 at Amex Stadium.
Solly March seemed to foul Kyle Walker-Peters just outside the area, but the offence was deemed to have carried on inside the box after a VAR review.
Substitute Danny Ings made no mistake from the spot to mark his return from injury with a sixth league goal of the campaign.
After that come-from-behind triumph, Ralph Hasenhuttl was happy with his strength in depth.
“It’s important to have subs like Danny and Reddy (Nathan Redmond) in that moment because that gives us definitely more opportunities,” said the head coach.
“In such a tight game, if you want to turn the table, you need quality from the bench and I think it was the winning part that we can bring players on like these two.”
Saints are more used to making fast starts, though, as they had netted first in eight of their previous nine games.
We like 21/20 for them to open the scoring before half-time from the Southampton vs Sheff Utd odds.
Last Saints line-up: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Bertrand, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo, Armstrong, Adams, Walcott.
Ings (knee) could return to the starting line-up and defender Mohammed Salisu in pushing for a belated debut.
A Look At Sheffield United’s Betting Odds
Sheffield United’s 2-1 loss to Leicester summed up the run they have been on this term, with just one point picked up from 11 outings so far.
Oli McBurnie quickly cancelled out Ayoze Perez’s 24th-minute opener and a draw looked on the cards until Jamie Vardy bagged a breakaway goal in stoppage time.
Chris Wilder said: “It’s one of the hardest periods I’ve been through in my managerial career, because of my connection to this football club, and we just want to get through it.
“Am I being a counsellor as much as a manager? Yes, it seems that way because we are trying to keep spirits high and people positive.
“These players have swum the channel to get this club in the position it is in. So I’m not going to smash them over the head. I support them.”
Eight of United’s 10 top-flight defeats this season have come by a one-goal margin, including the last three losses, so the evidence suggests the Blades will keep on battling.
However, this is a tough test against a team high on confidence and self-belief.
Saints have scored exactly twice in each of their five Premier League home games and 5/2 they do so again here is our final Southampton vs Sheff Utd prediction.
Last Sheff Utd line-up: Ramsdale, Baldock, Basham, Egan, Lowe, Bryan, Fleck, Lundstram, Berge, Burke, McBurnie.
United are hoping defender Enda Stevens (knee), midfielder Ethan Ampadu (hip) and forward Lys Mousset (toe) are fit.
Additional stats
Last result:
Brighton 1-2 SOUTHAMPTON – Jannik Vestergaard, Danny Ings (pen)
SHEFF UTD 1-2 Leicester – Oli McBurnie
Head-to-head: Southampton 3-1 Sheff Utd, Sheff Utd 0-1 Southampton
Join bwin today and receive up to £20 money back as a FreeBet if your first wager (3+ selections at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater) is a loser! Terms and conditions apply.