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THE MATCH
Southampton vs Hull City
Saturday 29th April, 3.00pm BST
St Mary’s
Premier League
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Claude Puel has stressed the importance of a victory against Hull City, as Saints head into the game off the back of two defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City.
A win could close the gap between West Bromwich Albion in 8th, who also play on Saturday in a 3pm kick-off against Leicester City.
For the visitors, a win could be the difference between relegation and safety. The Tigers are precariously positioned one place above the relegation drop zone and have not won on the road since August.
Marco Silva knows his side will have to improve their away form if they are to maintain their Premier League status.
TEAM NEWS
Southampton: Sam McQueen returned to training on Thursday after recovering from a minor groin injury. Charlie Austin and Matt Targett were also involved in their first training sessions back, but neither will be available on Saturday.
Hull City: Hull will be without Omar Elabdellaoui on Saturday, as the Norwegian continues to struggle with a back problem. Striker Oumar Niasse, however, will be available after his red card against Watford last weekend was rescinded on appeal.
FORM GUIDE
Southampton’s previous five:
Chelsea (a) L 4-2
Manchester City (h) L 0-3
West Brom (a) W 0-1
Crystal Palace (h) W 3-1
AFC Bournemouth (h) D 0-0
Hull City’s previous five:
Watford (h) W 2-0
Stoke City (a) L 3-1
Manchester City (a) L 3-1
Middlesbrough (h) W 4-2
West Ham (h) W 2-1
TOP PERFORMERS
Oriol Romeu returned from his two-match suspension in the last game against Chelsea and showed exactly why he is so crucial to the Saints set-up. The Spaniard was hugely influential in the middle of the park and completed the game with a 88.2% pass completion rate and even got himself on the score sheet against his former club.
Top scorers: Charlie Austin (9), Nathan Redmond (7)
Most assists: Dušan Tadić (6), James Ward-Prowse (5)
Harry Maguire has been one of Hull City’s most influential players since Marco Silva took over the reins at the KCOM Stadium. The 24-year-old has captained the Tigers in recent games and there is even talk of an England call at the end of the season for the defender who joined for £2.5m from Sheffield United in 2014.
Top scorers: Robert Snodgrass (9), Abel Hernández, Oumar Niasse (5)
Most assists: Shaun Maloney (5), Andrew Robertson, Abel Hernández, Kamil Grosicki (3)
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
All-time record:
Played: 59
Southampton: 25
Draws: 20
Hull City: 15
Previous four meetings:
November 2016: Hull City 2-1 Southampton (Austin, Snodgrass, Dawson)
April 2015: Southampton 2-0 Hull City (Ward-Prowse, Pellé)
November 2014: Hull City 0-1 Southampton (Wanyama)
February 2014: Hull City 0-1 Southampton (Fonte)
DID YOU KNOW?
– Southampton have won their last four home games against Hull, scoring two or more in each game.
– Hull haven’t won away at Southampton in a competitive meeting since February 1951.
NOT AT THE GAME?
Don’t worry if you can’t make it to St Mary’s! Our interactive match centre at southamptonfc.com will have all the build-up, as well as in-game updates and free live audio commentary.
Additionally, be sure to follow us on our various social channels for behind-the-scenes access and further updates:
– Twitter
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