Saints continue their pre-season preparations with a game back in Spain against Celta Vigo. This is Saints penultimate match before starting the season at West Bromwich Albion.
The match is part of an annual pre-season football tournament titled the Trofeo Memorial Quinocho, which is the 18th edition of the competition that is dedicated to Vigo`s former player and club director Joaquin Fernandez Santomé ‘Quinocho’.
Like Saints Celta Vigo won promotion back to their top flight of football. They survived relegation on the final day of the season. Luis Enrique took over in June and will be hoping to improve their situation.
Enrique will be a familiar face to Saints goalkeeping coach Toni Jiménez, as the pair played together in Spain`s gold-winning squad at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Another slender link is that their first match this coming season will be against Espanyol, Pochettino’s former club.
With just one more possible match before deciding who starts against Albion, I am hopeful that we will see a strong looking Saints team selected.
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Vital Quotes:
Celta Vigo Team News:
Amongst their current squad is Danish international midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli, who will look to help fill the void made by the departure of striker Iago Aspas to Liverpool earlier this summer.
Player to watch: Nolito
Nolito could be the difference between relegation and survival.
Saints Team News:
This match will be the fifth warm-up fixture of their pre-season campaign, before the hosting of Real Sociedad at St Mary`s next weekend. Saints will be hopeful that Clyne will be available.
Player to watch: Victor Wanyama
Wanyama is starting to show some of his power which could sway the result our way.
