Leicester City will be hoping to pick up from where they left off before the international break, whilst Southampton will be desperate to be the first home team to take all three points against the Foxes.
Both teams are currently in the top half of the table, Leicester are higher, in fifth, whilst Southampton have been on the rise recently, reaching ninth. Come the end of the season, it would seem more realistic if the teams' positions were switched around, but Southampton had a very slow start to the season while Leicester started like a house on fire.
Ronald Koeman - Claudio Ranieri
Both managers have experienced either playing or coaching roles in some of the best clubs in the world. Ronald Koeman of Southampton was a vital member of Johan Cruyff's 'Dream Team' and is known for the winning free-kick he scored in the 1992 European Cup Final. On the other side, Leicester's manager, Claudio Ranieri never really made his name playing the game but has gone on to manage clubs like Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan.
Koeman had a great first season as a Premier League manager, his Southampton team achieved a European place for the first time in their history after finishing seventh. This was down to his ability to find some great bargains on top quality Premier League players and he managed to maintain an injury-free team whilst keeping his whole squad happy with playing time.
Ranieri has started his second Premier League spell very well after picking up the job from Nigel Pearson in the summer. Although the squad was put together primarily by Pearson, Ranieri has done well to add to the squad, keeping the spine of last season's team firing on all cylinders, whilst keeping Craig Shakespeare and the rest of the coaching staff from the previous seasons.
Making some smart purchases early enough in the transfer window was a masterstroke from the well-travelled Italian. After being sacked by the Greek National team for a defeat against the Faroe Islands, it didn't look a great appointment from Leicester's Thai owners, but after the first eight games of his Leicester career it looks like a great signing.
The European Contingent
Southampton and Leicester were both well represented in the recent round of the European Championship Qualifiers. The Southampton fans won't be happy to hear that their striker, Shane Long, was injured whilst representing the Republic of Ireland but will be happy to find out that new midfielder, Jordy Clasie, might make his first Premier League appearance after recovering from his knock. Leicester have no injuries to deal with after a good international break for their players. Their fans will be refreshed to hear that debut-hero, Nathan Dyer, is fit after a knee injury.
Leicester's European representatives had a successful break with six of their players' nations qualifying for next year's competition. Andy King and Tom Lawrence will be hoping to represent Wales at the Euros after helping their nation qualify in a historic qualifying campaign, whilst Jamie Vardy will be hoping to be on the plane to France for England after they completed a perfect 10/10 campaign. Vardy played the full 90 minutes against Lithuania on Monday night.
Leicester new boys, Gokhan Inler and Christian Fuchs, will be captaining Switzerland and Austria respectively at next season's tournament. Andrej Kramaric's Croatia will be at Euro 2016 after winning their last game. The Foxes' shot-stopper, Kasper Schmeichel, will have to face a play-off with Denmark for a place.
Southampton had quite a healthy international representation over the break but their players were met with mixed fortunes. Starting in goal, Maarten Skekelenburg was called up to the Netherlands squad in between both of the games where they shockingly failed to qualify for the competition after finishing third at the 2014 World Cup.
Virgil Van Dijk also played for the Netherlands, picking up his first two international caps in a week to forget for the Dutch. Graziano Pelle scored a late winner for Italy against a resolute Norway side to ensure their qualification, whilst James Ward-Prowse represented the England Under-21's in both of the European qualifiers. Away from Europe, Maya Yoshida and Sadio Mane were both in action for Japan and Senegal respectively.
So, what about the match?
Both teams will be raring to go after the break and both sets of fans will be hoping to walk away from St. Mary's on Saturday with all three points. Contrasting starts to the season would suggest a Leicester win but with Southampton looking ready to challenge for Europe again, it should be a very close game.
A draw looks likely but with Leicester's habit of scoring late goals, Southampton will have to be on their game if they're to hold onto any advantage they may have late on.
