Southampton travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday evening looking for the win which would keep the club in the top four of the Premier League standings.
Wolves welcome the Saints on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Leicester City, a result which has left Nuno Espirito Santo's side in ninth position.
Match preview
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After beginning the season with defeats to Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur, no-one would have predicted that Southampton would record 16 points from their next half-a-dozen fixtures.
However, the Saints are good value for their recent resurgence, mixing up professional displays with clean sheets alongside ruthless showings in the final third.
The continued absence of Danny Ings is a blow ahead of this contest, but Ralph Hasenhuttl no longer needs to place extra reliance on the club's top goalscorer.
James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams are regularly chipping in with goals and assists, while a number of capitulations at the back have not dented the confidence of the defence.
Hasenhuttl will demand more from his side, especially against such a well-organised Wolves side, but the South Coast outfit will be confident that they can add a sixth success in seven on Monday evening.
Although Wolves have had their moments this season, Nuno will have concerns about the development of a team which has needed to adapt to a couple of major departures.
While there was excitement following their first-half display against Crystal Palace, the West Midlands outfit barely laid a glove on Leicester in their final game ahead of the international break.
Nuno has previously suggested that he will move his side away from playing on the counter-attack, but supporters are unlikely to see a style change for a triple-header versus Southampton, Arsenal and Liverpool.
In a heavily-congested mid-table, one win can make all the difference, but Nuno will acknowledge that his side must raise their game during three tough matches if they are to avoid playing catch-up heading into the Christmas period.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form: LWWDWL
Southampton Premier League form: WWDWWW
Team News
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Despite having to self-isolate over the international break, Conor Coady should be available to start in the middle of the Wolves defence.
Joao Moutinho may get the nod over Leander Dendoncker or Ruben Neves, while Marcal is in line for a start at left wing-back.
Adama Traore could be provided with a recall in place of Daniel Podence further forward.
Hasenhuttl is likely to name the same Southampton XI which started the game against Newcastle United.
Theo Walcott should partner Adams in attack, with Nathan Redmond remaining on the substitutes' bench due to the form of Moussa Djenepo.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Boly, Coady, Kilman; Semedo, Dendoncker, Neves, Marcal; Traore, Jimenez, Neto
Southampton possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Djenepo; Walcott, Adams
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Southampton
Sensing an opportunity to keep pace with the leaders, Hasenhuttl will likely instruct his side to go on the attack at Molineux. However, Wolves are well equipped at playing on the break, and we feel that the home side will do enough to earn a point on home territory.
Top betting tip
Video prediction
Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Wolverhampton Wanderers win with a probability of 44.58%. A win for Southampton had a probability of 28.1% and a draw had a probability of 27.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wolverhampton Wanderers win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.61%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.73%) and 2-0 (8.57%). The likeliest Southampton win was 0-1 (9.45%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.84%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.8% likelihood.
