Chris Sutton predicts Leeds United v Southampton result amid mooted relegation battles
Chris Sutton has predicted that Southampton somehow find a way to beat Leeds United when the pair meet in the Premier League this weekend.
Despite the Whites producing a good comeback in their first game to beat Wolves and the Saints getting thrashed by Tottenham he has gone for a 2-1 home win at St Mary’s on Saturday (13 August).
Sutton thinks both sides are getting relegated at the end of the season and while fortunes were at opposite ends of the spectrum when the season kicked off he thinks that is going to be reversed when the two clash on the south coast.
In his predictions on the BBC Sport website he said of the game: “Leeds got off to a good start by beating Wolves and they are one of my tips for relegation, which means they will probably win this week too.
“Southampton got spanked by Tottenham last weekend after taking the lead.
“Saints have gone to a back three after using it in pre-season, and although going to Spurs was a very difficult start to the season for them, it is hard to tell how damaging that defeat will be.
“Because I’ve got Leeds going down, they can’t keep on winning – I saw the stat on MOTD2 that, if a team takes eight points from their first five games, they have a 96% chance of staying in the Premier League.
“So, I am going to go with Southampton to bounce back here – although I’m not entirely sure how they will do it.”
Covering himself
There isn’t a great deal to support Sutton’s prediction and it looks like he has only done it to try to back up his preseason shout that United are going down.
Plenty of pundits have made that tip, but there seems to have been a tendency to purely focus on the departures of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips rather than look at the summer as whole.
Southampton appear to be in turmoil and Ralph Hasenhuttl’s future as manager is being called into question, so it feels like a good opportunity for the Whites to go in there with the confidence of the Wolves win and take advantage.
Jesse Marsch still wants another forward to come in before the window closes, but while Patrick Bamford’s fitness holds that is less of a priority than left-back.
The English striker looked like he was getting back to his best once he got up to the speed of the game at Elland Road last week, but Pascal Struijk suggested he could give opportunities to opposing attackers while he fills in for the injured Junior Firpo.
He was out of position for Daniel Podence’s opener, and while Southampton aren’t the most dangerous of sides in attack nor are Wolves.
The return of Liam Cooper would sure things up considerably at the back, so if the captain comes back in there is every reason to believe a second win could be in the offing.
In other Leeds United news, the club have their eye on a European attacking sensation valued at £30million as the window heads to a close.