Will the Saints rise above themselves again against Spurs?

Antonio Conte has won a Premier League championship with three different clubs. He led Juventus to no less than three Serie A titles from 2012 to 2014, in 2017 he became the acclaimed champion coach at Chelsea FC and in 2021 the Italian crowned his successful coaching career to date with the Scudetto with Inter Milan. The 53-year-old knows how to fill club showcases with trophies and is now looking to continue his personal success story with Tottenham.

There is every reason why Spurs are ranked number three in the Premier League championship odds, just behind Manchester City and Liverpool. The bookmakers believe that the Lily Whites will be the best club team in London in the upcoming 2022/23 season. To confirm this assessment right away, it would be of immense importance that a prediction on the home win on the first matchday between Tottenham and Southampton pays off.

According to the bookmakers, Tottenham are clearly favoured against Southampton. And this for quite understandable reasons, after all, the Saints were one of the weakest away teams in the English top flight in the pre-season. Above all, the many goals conceded often broke the neck of coach Hasenhüttl’s team. Apart from that, there was not much to be gained for the port cities in North London recently. It would be very surprising if that were to change on Saturday.

Tottenham – Statistics & current form

Antonio Conte has been in charge of Tottenham since the beginning of November 2021. 36 matches have been played under the direction of the Italian and 21 victories have been achieved. In the Premier League alone, they have scored an impressive 56 points in 28 games. If the Londoners had achieved this average of two points per match over the entire season, they would have finished third behind the Citizens and the Reds.

Nevertheless, the change of coach came at the right time, because in the final table they finished fourth and qualified directly for the Champions League group stage. The calculated income was immediately invested in new personnel in the summer. The signing of Richarlison, Bissouma and Spence cost over 100 million euros. In addition, Lenglet was loaned from Barcelona and veteran Perisic was signed free of charge. On the other hand, only one player from the extended regular squad left the club in the shape of Bergwijn.

Tottenham want to stay up from the start

It is therefore fair to say that the capital club have strengthened in terms of quality and have at least as many hopes that the team will have a full pre-season under Antonio Conte for the first time. For the most part, the preseason went according to plan. Only the 1-0 defeat in the dress rehearsal against AS Roma was a bit of a scare, but perhaps it came as a warning shot at exactly the right time.

Add to that the fact that Spurs traditionally start new seasons well, winning six of their last nine Premier League openers, and it’s clear why we’re pushing for a bet on the home side between Tottenham and Southampton. In addition, 15 of the last 20 PL home games have been won against the upcoming opponents.

It shouldn’t make much difference that the Lily Whites are playing their first match in front of a home crowd in almost three years on a Saturday at 16:00. The last such match was a 5-0 win over Burnley in December 2019. A good omen? As well as new signing Richarlison, who is still suspended, the injured Oliver Skipp will also be missing. There is a question mark behind the use of Bissouma. Harry Kane (eleven) and Hyeung-Min Son (ten), who have scored a combined 21 Premier League goals against the Saints, will be available.

Predicted Tottenham line-up:
Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Doherty, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sessegnon; Kulusevski, Kane, Son

Last matches played by Tottenham:

Friendly club matches
31/07/2022 – Tottenham 0 – 1 AS Roma

23/07/2022 – Rangers 1 – 2 Tottenham

16/07/2022 – Sevilla FC 1 – 1 Tottenham

13/07/2022 – K-League All Stars 3 – 6 Tottenham

Premier League
22/05/2022 – Norwich 0 – 5 Tottenham

Southampton – Statistics & current form

While Spurs were able to reach into one of the top shelves with their transfers, for Ralph Hasenhüttl and his Saints it was primarily a matter of strengthening the squad across the board and once again finding players who see a commitment to Southampton as the next step on their career ladder. Five new players were brought in for almost 60 million euros, including Armel Bella-Kotchap from Bochum. Generally, four of these five new arrivals fall into the U21 category, which once again underlines that the English mid-table team relies on many talents capable of development.

Nevertheless, it also means that only two summer transfers will be in the starting eleven on Saturday afternoon, the most experienced of the newcomers, Joe Aribo from Glasgow Rangers, and keeper Bazunu. However, it remains to be seen whether it is a positive sign that Austrian coach Hasenhüttl will be relying almost entirely on his tried and tested personnel, as the Saints were already wild away from home last season.

So far, so good!

Southampton must fade the stats

Ten of the 19 away games in the Premier League have been lost. The 43 conceded goals in opposing stadiums even corresponded to the worst value of all first division teams. The last away win came at the beginning of February – a 3:2 victory at Spurs, of all places. Nevertheless, it was one of only three away victories in the entire season.

In nine of the ten cases mentioned, a bet would have gone through on the Saints losing away from home by at least two goals. This statistic provides a plausible argument for betting on a handicap triumph for the Londoners in this weekend’s clash between Tottenham and Southampton.

This is also supported by the miserable record in opening games. Under Ralph Hasenhüttl, there has been no point gained at all in three attempts on matchday one. In fact, the Red and Whites have been waiting eight years for a three-point win in the first league match of a new season. Nathan Tella and Theo Walcott are out, Tino Livramento has been unavailable for some time anyway.

Predicted Southampton line-up:
Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Salisu, Bednarek, Perraud; S Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Elyounoussi; Aribo; Adams

Last matches played by Southampton:

Friendly club matches
30/07/2022 – Southampton 1 – 2 FC Villarreal

28/07/2022 – Southampton 3 – 1 AS Monaco

23/07/2022 – Watford 0 – 0 Southampton

18/07/2022 – Austria Klagenfurt 0 – 0 Southampton

16/07/2022 – RB Leipzig 3 – 1 Southampton

Tottenham – Southampton Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

The home ground of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has not been a good place for Southampton in recent years and decades. Out of the past 20 away games at the Lily Whites, the Saints have only managed to win their three. The port city side have lost more Premier League away games against Spurs than any other English first division club (17).

The Londoners have won nine of their last eleven league home games. The 3-2 defeat at home in pre-season can therefore be regarded as a slip-up. The last time Tottenham lost two home games in a row against Southampton was in the 1970s. Will it stay that way?

Tottenham – Southampton Tip

The first matchday is not only scheduled in Germany this weekend, the new Premier League season also starts in England. Spurs are expected to play a very good role. The North Londoners have cleverly strengthened themselves and also hope that Antonio Conte has once again decisively developed the team in his first real preparation.

A first test of maturity will be Saturday afternoon’s home match against coach Ralph Hasenhüttl’s Saints. The underdogs won the most recent direct encounter in the capital 3:2. It was, however, one of only two wins by point at all in a review of the past eleven trips to Haringey County.

Furthermore, it must be stated that the Red and Whites lost ten away games last season, nine of them by at least a two-goal difference. The 43 goals conceded were also the highest in the entire league. The core of the team has remained the same, which is why we are rather sceptical about the chances for the weekend.

We therefore go with the statistical as well as subjective trend and play the tip on Tottenham (-1) between Tottenham and Southampton at exciting betting odds.