High-flying Southampton will see the home match against Hull City as a perfect opportunity to extend their unbeaten run to eight Premier League games and show everyone they are genuine contenders for a top 6 finish. Meanwhile, the Tigers made a giant step towards Premiership survival by defeating relegation rivals Sunderland, although they still face an uphill task at St Mary’s.

When the Saints go marching in

While many were quick to criticize club’s decision to sack boss Nigel Adkins midway through last season, the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino proved to be the best thing that has happened to Southampton in recent history. The Argentine coach did brilliantly to transform the Saints from genuine relegation strugglers to the team capable of matching even the best sides in the league, and he is now reaping the rewards of his work. Having created a perfect bland of quality players from abroad and some amazing talents from the youth academy, Pochettino has led the Saints to the sixth place in the overall standings, with the team now sitting mere one point behind second-placed Chelsea. The most important thing is that Southampton thoroughly deserved all their points this season, with their rock-solid back line compensating for minor issues up front. However, with Pablo Osvaldo likely to return to the side and Rickie Lambert rediscovering his scoring boots, chances are that team’s impressive run of results is going to continue against Hull City.

The ten players that were rested in the Capital One Cup defeat to Southampton are set to be recalled, whereas Pablo Osvaldo is in line for a return.

Tigers exceeding expectations

I have to admit I didn’t think at the start of the season that Hull City would be able to survive this Premier League campaign, but some late signings made by Steve Bruce made all the difference. While Yannick Sagbo has also shown some promise, midfield duo of Tom Huddlestone and Jack Livermore proved to be just what the team needed to mount a serious survival challenge. With the experienced boss hardly a newcomer when it comes to relegation battles, he has quickly put together a decent team that created all sorts of problems even to the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham. However, while the Tigers have impressed at their KC Stadium, their performances on the travels have left a lot to be desired, having lost four of five matches on the road, albeit beating Newcastle away. With key players McGregor, Brady, Aluko and Chester all unavailable for the trip to St Mary’s, I am afraid Hull won’t be able to get anything from this match.

Sone Aluko, Allan McGregor and James Chester are definitely out, whereas Robbie Brady is unlikely to be risked as he still battles a hernia problem. However, Alex Bruce and Abdoulaye Faye are set to return.

Verdict

Buoyed by yet another quality performance on the road, Southampton can be trusted to continue their amazing home form that saw them win last four matches there without conceding a single goal. Meanwhile, Hull City not only struggle on the travels, but also go into this match without four important players, so I cannot see them upsetting the odds this time out.

Top pick: Home win   1.62 (5/8) @ bet365

Alternative pick 1: Southampton/Southampton   2.50 (3/2) @ Betfair

Alternative pick 2: Southampton to win to nil   2.35 (27/20) @ Coral