Paul Merson has predicted that Tottenham will win 3-1 against Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.
Spurs have failed to win in their last three Premier League fixtures, but their win against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night should serve as a boost for Mauricio Pochettino’s men as they return to domestic action on the south coast.
Merson believes that Southampton should avoid relegation to the Championship this season, but he does not expect them to beat Pochettino’s men.
“Tottenham had a great result in midweek in the Champions League and I thought they were fortunate against Arsenal,” he said on the Sky Sports website.
“Southampton are a funny team – they go to Old Trafford and should have got a point and did well.
“If Cardiff end up beating West Ham and go above Southampton, they’ve then got some hard games coming up. Cardiff need to go above Southampton to make them panic but if they are always in front of them, it is just another hard game gone by, but I think Southampton will stay up.”
OPINION
Spurs should beat Southampton. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side played well against Manchester United last week but lost, which suggests that there is something about them right now that cannot help them see off the better teams in the Premier League. It’s something that tends to happen to teams fighting against relegation near the bottom of the table. They turn up against the bigger teams in the division and make them work hard for wins, which is more than likely what is going to happen this weekend. Pochettino will be in the stands at St Mary’s but that should not have too much of an impact on the result. Hugo Lloris’ last-minute penalty save against Arsenal last week could be a turning point for the North London club, as they showed with a solid display at Dortmund on Tuesday, and they should be expected to win this weekend. If they don’t then Man United could pinch third place of Spurs, which is not good news at all.