Saints welcome Sunderland to St Mary’s tomorrow with the club in a pretty high mood of anticipation.
It is three months since we last played at home, and in that time we have as a club seen some dramatic changes. £36m has been spent and we look far more potent as a force now than we did last season.
Both Dejan Lovren and Victor Wanyama had good starts last week at West Brom’s ground and now we have a new striker to consider as well.
Pablo Daniel (Dani) Osvaldo was the top scorer for Roma last season scoring 16 goals. If he can settle well with us I can see him scoring more this time around for us.
Sunderland have also changed their squad with a lot of player turnaround. Twelve players have left the Black Cats with eleven coming in.
Last week they were considered unlucky when losing at home to Fulham and they will be itching to get some points to get their season up and running.
Vital Quotes:
Mauricio Pochettino: ‘We are aware that we are going to face a rival that lost their first game against Fulham in their own stadium so they will be up and ready to get going with a result from their second game.
“We obtained three very important points in our first game, and the first game of any season is always important, because it is tough. We just want to prolong the good job that we did at West Bromwich, in our own stadium for the second game because that will be very positive for us.’
Paulo Di Canio: ‘It`s a game we can easily lose because, in my opinion, Southampton are a top side now – a top-10 side. They spent over £35m on the last three players they brought in and they have added to what was already a good base.
‘They were a good side before their new signings – they started their revolution earlier than we did – and they will give us a tough game. We go there knowing there`s a risk we can lose, but with a belief we can win.
Southampton Team News:
Saints are at full strength and new signing Dani Osvaldo could take part at some time during the game.
Player to watch: Victor Wanyama
Last week we saw Victor play his first serious game for us and he was immense. He will add steel to our midfield in a big way.
Sunderland Team News:
Sunderland have injury doubts over a few. Craig Gardner could return to Sunderland`s starting line-up after he served the final game of his three-match ban whilst Wes Brown could also be fit to make a return.
Steven Fletcher is likely to remain unavailable for a while yet.
Player to watch: Jozy Altidore
Jozy missed a few chances last week and could prove to be a big threat to us this weekend.
Match Facts & Stats
Sunderland have won the last two meetings at St Mary’s and have won 4 of the last 6 there.
Ref Watch:
Lee Mason will be the referee
Andy Halliday and Simon Long linesmen.
Simon Hooper is the fourth official.
Match Prediction:
Saints 2-0
