Southampton defender Maya Yoshida expects a tight affair as his side travel to West Bromwich Albion this weekend.
The Japan international told the club’s official website that he forecasts a tough battle, much like the Saints' previous meeting with the Birmingham outfit. The defender completed the full 90 minutes in August, a stalemate in Ronald Koeman’s home debut.
The Baggies have been in scintillating form recently, losing just once in nine games under new manager Tony Pulis. The reverse fixture saw West Brom frustrate the home side, with a James Ward-Prowse the closet Southampton came to breaking the deadlock.
The visitors are not safe yet, sitting just five points above the relegation zone with 12 games left to play. This is something Yoshida alluded to, the defender proclaimed:
“It will be a difficult game against a team battling at the other end of the division,” Said the 26-year-old. “Teams in that position are motivated to do well, and we will be motivated to do well too, but the situation is not the same.
“They won’t care about the tackles and trying to smash us. We have to make every 50/50 ball and get the second balls and then we can make it work for us like a home game, and finally we want to score. It doesn’t matter if it’s a header, shoulder or whatever.”
Scoring eight goals in the month of February thus far; Pulis has the likes of in-form Brown Ideye to call upon with the impending visit of a Champions League chasing team, with Saido Berahino and Victor Anichebe injury doubts.
The former Nagoya Grampus man, though, is more confident that his forward line will pose a threat to their opponent’s defense: “They have good strikers, but we have more of them,” he said. “The manager has brought the likes of [Eljero] Elia and Filip [Djuričic] to the club and right now we have something to fix.”
The centre-back’s attention will be on his side’s defensive duties. Since returning from his country's Asian Cup campaign, Yoshida has started all four Premier League fixtures and has kept two clean sheets in this period.
“Defensively we are going to go the same way and then hopefully we will still create more opportunities. If we cannot score then hopefully we will have tried to score at least ten and if not we will go for 20 to get one [goal].
“We have made 12 clean sheets they have had 10 so it won’t be a 4-4 or 4-3 it will be a little more tight and maybe there will be less chances in the game, so we will have to take our opportunities.
“I think we have a good philosophy of sticking to our beliefs, and if we do that, then we make more opportunities for ourselves to win.”