Ralph Hasenhuttl believes we will give his Southampton side “the most difficult game you can imagine” after being impressed by our display at West Brom on Tuesday.
That is open for debate – with us winning just 1 of our last 10 games before our FA Cup win at the Hawthorns – but Hasenhuttl’s most baffling comment is him claiming we score three goals ‘a lot’.
Yes we scored three against the Baggies this week, but we have only scored more than two goals in a league game ONCE all season, with that coming in a 3-2 win at West Ham back in December.
Here’s what the Saints boss has had to say, with his comments suggesting he hasn’t done his homework on their opponents this weekend:
“They played a very good game, they scored three goals, which they do they do a lot”
“It shows the strength of the opponent, they don’t need a lot of chances to score.”
“I expect them to play in a similar way.
“We want to give them more problems then West Brom did.
“I expect the most difficult game that you can imagine.
“It will be an interesting game but we focus on our strengths.”
On the injury front, Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond look set to miss out, but Hasenhuttl has confirmed that star man Danny Ings will return.
The former Liverpool striker missed their defeat at West Ham last weekend, but appears to be raring to go ahead of Saturday’s game – with Hasenhuttl claiming he’s ‘hungry’ to add to his 15 league goals this season:
“It was good that we did rest him last week because the danger was too much.
“This week he trained well, he’s absolutely hungry to score again.
“We need him for the important goals and hopefully at the weekend he scores again.”
Some very odd comments from Hasenhuttl regarding our form in front of goal this season, however he’ll be boosted by the fact Ings will be back in his starting 11 this weekend.
Let’s hope we can pick up from where we left off at West Brom and keep creating chances via this new 4-2-3-1 formation!
