Ronald Koeman's Southampton side will face Stoke City in St. Mary's Stadium on the 13th Premier League matchday of the campaign. A flashback to previous meetings between these teams shown that the advantages are fortunately on the Saints' side.
Saints aiming to extend their home run
Matches between Southampton and Stoke City, especially recently, have been most frequently won by the Saints. Almost 50% of the competitive meetings between the two sides resulted in a So'ton victory, whilst draws and Stoke City wins are closely-fought too.
Another fact, which will undoubtedly encourage Southampton, is the fact that they are on a very good run of form, especially at home. In twenty fixtures, Stoke have only beaten Southampton twice at St. Mary's (14 wins, four draws for So'ton).
So realistically, the target for the upcoming match is clear: Southampton will be eager to extend their run at home.
Previous meetings
If the previous meetings are anything to go by, you'll be expecting goals tomorrow. In their last five meetings, Southampton have won two, drawn twice and lost once against Stoke - which was in their most recent fixture last term.
Morgan Schneiderlin - formerly of Manchester United now - broke the deadlock midway through the first-half, proved to be meaningless in the end as Mame Biram Diouf and Charlie Adam's second-half strikes ensured the Potters snatched all three points.
The match at the Britannia Stadium in November 2013 was definitely a historical, unforgettable match.
On a windy afternoon, the scoring was opened in bizarre and dramatic circumstances - from a very unlikely source. Asmir Begovic, who now plays his trade at Stamford Bridge with defending champions Chelsea, scored a quick-fire goal after just 13 seconds, having blasted the ball high in the air, swerving over plenty of players in-and-around the centre cricle.
The wind played a part in the goal, and experienced goalkeeper Artur Boruc was in no man's land as he was helpless to stop the Bosnian's unintended effort on goal. Luckily though, Jay Rodriguez equalised before half-time, and that was how the match finished - a 1-1 draw.
Overall, tension between Southampton and Stoke is definitely guaranteed and you'd perhaps expect the upcoming fixture will also be good spectacle on Saturday.