Southampton travel to a wounded Tottenham Hotspur looking to take points from another top four side.

The Saints are on a high after comfortably dismantling Manchester City 4-2 last weekend, and manager Ronald Koeman will hope his side can match that performance level and add to Spurs recent woes.

Sunday’s opponent’s hopes of achieving their first ever Premier League title triumph were ended by a 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Monday, which then saw Leicester City crowned this seasons champions.

The Saints have two games remaining this season and are looking to take maximum points from their remaining fixtures to ensure European football returns to St Mary’s next season.

The south coast side are unbeaten in their last four matches, with their last two results being 4-2 wins over Aston Villa and City respectively, but will face a very difficult tie with Spurs who will be desperate to bounce back and confirm second place.

Ahead of the match Koeman has urged his players to beat last seasons points tally to show the excellent progress made under the Dutchman.

He also insisted that the squad are confident going into the game, and added that there is an excellent atmosphere amongst the side.

Dele Alli netted for Spurs last time agasint Saints but will miss this game through susoension (photo source: getty images)

Pochettino proud of Spurs players

Spurs come into the game following a major disappointment from their last match as they threw away a two goal lead against Chelsea as well as their chance of becoming champions.

Former Saints and now Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino remains proud of his players, despite them receiving criticism against Chelsea for their conduct which saw them receive nine yellow cards in the match.

The Argentine feels that his side will be even stronger next season for the experience of missing out on the title.

The home fans will be boosted knowing that they haven’t lost to the Saints in their last seven meetings, winning six times and drawing once.

​Team news

The Saints have no new injury concerns ahead of the tie and could line up similarly to the side that beat City last Sunday.

As for Spurs they will be without Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele through suspension and Nabil Bentaleb will remain on the side-line with a knee injury.   

​Previous meetings

The last time the two sides met earlier in the season the Saints were beaten 2-0 at St Mary’s as Harry Kane and Dele Alli netted just before half time to put the tie well beyond Southampton.

The Saints haven’t beat Spurs since their 1-0 win at St Mary’s back in 2005, and their last win at White Hart Lane came in 2003 with two goals from James Beattie and a Spurs own goal sealing victory for the reds.

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About the author
Ben Strange
Sports journalism at Southampton Solent University