Southampton vs Leicester prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-09-14 19:00.
A Premier League fixture as recently as last season, Southampton host Leicester City for the first time in the Championship in over a decade. The Saints suffered their first defeat of the league campaign prior to the international break, and in some style too, as they went down 5-0 against Sunderland, a result which boss Russell Martin accepted “full responsibility” for.
Still in the infancy of his Southampton tenure, Martin also admitted he lost sleep over that result, but perhaps that’s not a bad thing as it may have given him a chance to think up a solution to his side’s defensive woes. No Championship side has conceded more league goals than Southampton’s 12 this season, and with a league-high three of them arriving in the opening 15 minutes, they do have a tendency to start slow.
The game prior to the international break also yielded a first defeat of the league season for Leicester, who went down 1-0 against Hull almost two weeks ago. That brought to an end new boss Enzo Maresca’s six-match winning run, but despite claiming the Manager of the Month award for August, the defiant Leicester chief still insists his side need to “improve in the final third”.
Perhaps Maresca’s onto something there, as Leicester are yet to score more than twice in a single game this season, but having famously scored nine here against Southampton back in 2019, perhaps their luck is about to change. One thing he will be pleased with is his side’s character, as each of the Foxes’ four winning goals netted in league action this season arrived after the 70th minute, so if this game is finely poised in the dying moments, don’t write off Leicester snatching a third successive away league win.
Players to watch: Southampton’s Adam Armstrong has interestingly closed the scoring in both their home league games this season, while Kasey McAteer’s first two senior Leicester goals sealed victory on their last away league outing, with one arriving either side of half-time.
Hot stat: No Championship side has collected more yellow cards than Southampton’s 21 this season.