Southampton will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of midweek on Friday night.
The Saints are set to travel to The Hawthorns to face West Brom. That game will see them look to recover after Tuesday night’s 3-1 defeat at Bristol City.
That setback in the game at Ashton Gate brought an end to a 25-match unbeaten run for Russell Martin‘s side.
However, it seems as though there may be some expectation that Southampton could be set for more disappointment during their trip to the Midlands.
Southampton ‘need to rally’, says David Prutton
Losing at Bristol City, combined with Leeds United’s 4-0 win at Swansea City, means the Saints have dropped out of the automatic promotion places in the Championship table.
The Baggies meanwhile, beat Cardiff City 2-0 on Tuesday night. As a result, they still occupy a spot in the play-off places, which they will be looking to cement with another win here.
Now it seems as though David Prutton believes Carlos Corberan’s side will be able to do that in this clash with Southampton.
Writing about the game in his regular predictions column for Sky Sports, the former Saints midfielder said:
“It has been a decent week for West Brom so far, even if they’d have been disappointed not to have held on for the win at Ipswich on Saturday. They are still well-placed in the race for the play-offs as well.
“Southampton’s response to that defeat in midweek will be fascinating. They threatened it at the weekend, but bounced back to beat Huddersfield in remarkable fashion. Now they need to rally or Leeds could race away with second. I have a feeling they could slip again.”
As a result, Prutton has predicted that West Brom will take a 2-1 win from this match.
Loss would be a big blow for the Saints
It would be a huge setback for Southampton if they were to be on the end of this sort of result on Friday.
With Leeds United looking as though they are clicking into form, they cannot give the Whites a chance to get away from them in the race for second spot.
A defeat at The Hawthorns though, would open the door for Daniel Farke’s side to take full advantage away at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon.
It is also worth noting that prior to Bristol City, the last time they lost a game was in a run of four straight defeats.
As a result, if they were to make it back to back losses here, some big questions might be asked about the ability of this Southampton side to cope under pressure.
That in turn, would not bode well for any potential play-off campaign come the end of the regular season.
With that in mind, this feels like a crucial game beyond just picking up three points for Southampton, although the form West Brom are in means that may not be an easy task for the Saints.