EPL: Relegated Fulham tackle Saints

Southampton vs. Fulham
Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium
Kick off: 3PM

Relegated Fulham will be looking to bring an end to their winless run when they take on Southampton at St Mary’s this afternoon.

The Cottagers’ fate was confirmed with defeat at home to Burnley on Monday, while Southampton beat Crystal Palace last time out to climb up to 14th place.

Despite a supposed upturn in performances over the past few months, Fulham have now taken just one point from their last seven Premier League games.

That solitary point did come away at Arsenal, and Scott Parker’s men also won away to Liverpool two months ago, but there can be no complaints regarding their relegation.

The Cottagers quite simply have not been good enough over the course of the campaign, and the 2-0 loss against Burnley at Craven Cottage this week was the final nail in the coffin.

Fulham knew that only a win would do, but goals from Ashley Westwood and Chris Wood in the final 10 minutes of the first half sealed a 2-0 victory for Sean Dyche’s men.

In doing so, it means that the bottom three places have been wrapped up in the Premier League with at least three games still to play for the first time ever.

Fulham are now effectively playing for pride when they travel to Southampton and Manchester United, before concluding their season at home to Newcastle United.

A good omen for the South London side, though, is that they have avoided defeat in their next game on the two previous occasions that their Premier League relegation was confirmed.

Like their opponents, Southampton also have little to play for in the final week of the season as they are essentially jostling for position in the lowest reaches of the division.

The Saints led the way at the top of the Premier League just six months ago, but their form has plummeted since then and relegation was a concern at one stage.

Following a run of five defeats and a draw in the space of six games, however, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s charges beat Palace fairly resoundingly on Tuesday to get back on track.

Danny Ings scored twice on his return from injury and Che Adams was also on target after Christian Benteke had given Palace an early lead on the South Coast.

Not since before Christmas have Southampton won back-to-back league games, but they will consider this a real chance to do exactly that and potentially climb a place into 14th.

The sides played out a goalless draw at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day, making it just one defeat in eight Premier League meetings for Southampton in this fixture.

Southampton possible XI: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Salisu, Vestergaard, Stephens, Walcott, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo, Redmond, Adams.

Fulham possible XI: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Loftus-Cheek, Anguissa, Cavaleiro, Onomah, Lookman, Maja.