Southampton vs Plymouth prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-12-28 18:00.
A resounding 5-0 thumping of Swansea on Boxing Day extended Southampton’s unbeaten run to 16, the longest ongoing streak of any team in the top four tiers and the club’s lengthiest run of this kind since the 1921/22 season! A ruthless second half showing with four unanswered goals left Russell Martin purring, with “amazing” and “incredible” just two of the superlatives used by the boss after watching a sixth consecutive home win take his side to within five points of the top two ahead of the round.
The task now is, in Martin’s own words, to “keep growing”, and what better way to showcase that growth than by winning their final league game of a calendar year for the first time since 2010 (D6, L6 since). But having lost their last five home league games against newly promoted teams, failing to score in each of their last four, the visit of last season’s League One winners Plymouth doesn’t seem timely.
Argyle may fancy their chances of causing a seismic upset given they have won their final league match of the year in five of the last eight years (D2, L1), including in each of the last two. Added to that, the Pilgrims are unbeaten in three H2Hs at St Mary’s (W2, D1), keeping a clean sheet in each of those games, albeit they haven’t played here since 2010.
Still managerless, Plymouth twice fought from behind to earn a Boxing Day point at Cardiff, in what was just their fifth picked up on the road all season so far, with all five earned through draws (L7). After stand-in boss Neil Dewsnip said “the players were devastated” not to have come away from South Wales with all three, they’ll be hoping to get lucky in their 13th attempt for a travelling league win this season.
Players to watch: Adam Armstrong has netted in half of Southampton’s home league games so far this term, with nine overall at St Mary’s including three in the last three. At the other end, Morgan Whittaker’s brace at Cardiff means he has four in three and 12 overall, making him the Championship’s joint-second top scorer.
Hot stat: Southampton have scored the opening goal of the game in their last eight home games.