Southampton host Bournemouth in a relegation six-point showdown this evening that could prove pivotal to both club's survival hopes.
The Saints gave themselves a lifeline after holding Premier League leaders Arsenal to a 3-3 draw but remain favourites for the drop.
Southampton conceded two late goals against the Gunners to stretch their winless run to seven and are five points adrift of safety.
Another defeat would surely spell an end to their 11-year stay in the top-flight, with trips to Newcastle, Brighton and Liverpool still to come.
Bournemouth's back-to-back Premier League wins propelled them out of the relegation zone but a 4-0 humbling to West Ham brought them back down to earth.
The Cherries are still five points clear of the drop but play three of the teams around them in their six remaining fixtures in the Saints, Leeds and Everton so could easily be sucked back in.
Southampton v Bournemouth: talkSPORT coverage
This Premier League clash will take place on Thursday, April 27.
Kick-off at St Mary's Stadium is scheduled for 7:45pm.
talkSPORT will have EXCLUSIVE live coverage of the game on the talkSPORT APP.
Commentary comes from Rich Wolfenden via talkSPORT International.
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Southampton v Bournemouth: Team news
Southampton XI: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Caleta-Car, Perraud, Elyounoussi, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Armstrong, Walcott, Alcaraz.
Subs: Bazunu, Lyanco, Armstrong, Sulemana, Maitland-Niles, Aribo, Djenepo, Adams, Mara.
Bournemouth XI: Neto, Senesi, Mepham, Kelly, Vina, Rothwell, Lerma, Tavernier, Christie, Billing, Solanke.
Subs: Travers, Zabarnyi, Smith, Brooks, Anthony, Outtara, Cook, Semenyo, Moore.
Southampton v Bournemouth: What has been said?
Southampton boss Ruben Selles praised his team’s character and performance after the draw with Arsenal.
“We put a really good performance on the pitch. We wanted to take the three points – we showed it from the very beginning,” Selles said.
“I’m a little bit disappointed because we didn’t take the three, but very, very happy because of the character and the performance the boys put in today on the pitch.
“We always prepare the games to win the games. That’s how we do it. We knew that to get something here today we needed to be brave and apply pressure high, and that’s what we did in the very beginning.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to keep that tempo and that pressing for 90 minutes, especially against Arsenal, who have a lot of players and a lot of solutions.
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“We changed it at half time, we stayed in the game, we managed to score the third one, and the game was a little bit long for us.”
Southampton v Bournemouth: Match facts
- Philip Billing has scored five away goals for Bournemouth in the Premier League this season, with only Josh King in 2016-17 and Callum Wilson in 2018-19 (both 9) ever netting more on the road in a single campaign for the Cherries. Meanwhile, Dominic Solanke has scored four away league goals this season – it's never happened that two Bournemouth players have scored 5+ away goals in a single Premier League campaign.
- Southampton's Theo Walcott has been involved in three goals in his last five Premier League appearances (2 goals, 1 assist), as many as he had in his previous 35. He's looking to score in consecutive league games for the first time since August 2018 while at Everton, the second game of which was against Bournemouth.
- Since his first Premier League start in February, Carlos Alcaraz has scored more league goals than any other Southampton player (3). All three of his strikes have put Saints 1-0 up in the match, including a strike after just 27 seconds against Arsenal last time out.
- Having won two of their first three Premier League games under Ruben Selles (L1), Southampton are now winless in seven (D3 L4). They kept a clean sheet in three of their first four under the Spaniard, but have since conceded in each of the last six (15 goals in total).
- Bournemouth have won their last two Premier League away games, as many as they had in their first 14 on the road this season (D2 L10) – they've never won three in a row on their travels in the top-flight before.
- Southampton have lost 10 Premier League home games this season, their joint-highest number of home defeats in a single league campaign (also 1993-94 and 2019-20). Indeed, Saints have the fewest home wins (2), fewest home points (10), most home defeats (10) and worst home goal difference (-15) of any Premier League side this season.
- Bournemouth are winless in their last nine midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League games (D2 L7), failing to score a single goal in their five such games so far this season (D1 L4).
- The away side has won the last four meetings between Southampton and Bournemouth in all competitions, with Saints winning the last three by an aggregate score of 6-0.
- Having won none of their first 12 league visits to Southampton between 1953 and 2019 (D4 L8), Bournemouth won their last away league game against Saints 3-1 in September 2019.
- Following their 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium in October, Southampton are looking to complete their first league double over Bournemouth since 2010-11, when the sides competed in League One.
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