Southampton’s push for Championship promotion moved in the right direction again over the weekend.
Joe Aribo’s stoppage-time goal gave the Saints a thrilling 4-3 victory over Birmingham City.
This brought an end to a skid of four defeats out of five in all competitions. It also means they have yet to fall behind in the race for the top two positions.
Russell Martin’s team will now try to build on their previous success when they return to play on Wednesday night.
This time, they will host Preston North End at St Mary’s. Now, it appears that Southampton should be able to earn up another important three points in that encounter.
David Prutton makes Southampton v Preston prediction
Preston North End, for their part, are riding high heading into this game. Ryan Lowe’s side is currently unbeaten in their past seven league games.
As a result, they are currently ranked eighth in the Championship table, three points behind the play-offs.
However, David Prutton feels Southampton will be able to halt that streak on Wednesday night.
The former Saints midfielder wrote about the game in his usual Sky Sports predictions piece, saying:
“What a win for Southampton over the weekend. To score so late at Birmingham and be within touching distance of Ipswich should have given them a tremendous boost. They do have to sit back and watch the other three above them play on Tuesday night, though.
“Preston are right in the thick of the play-off race, and a point against Hull will have kept them within touching distance of the top six. They are having a good run, but I believe it may come to an end at St Mary’s.”
As a result, Prutton predicts Southampton will win 2-1 in this encounter.
A must win match for Saints
Martin’s team must win this game and take all three points.
All that mattered in the weekend’s game against Birmingham City was winning and ending that terrible run.
Southampton accomplished this, although it was a difficult task against a team at the bottom of the table, and they had to play with 10 men for about 30 minutes.
As a result, if they want to rekindle the idea that they can win promotion this season, they’ll need to be more persuasive.
Victory in this game, against a Preston North End team in form and vying for the play-offs, may send a much stronger message.
The fact that they are playing the night after their competitors in the race for the top two spots adds to the intrigue.
That, of course, will increase the pressure on Southampton since they will know exactly what they need from this game.
How they deal with all of this could be revealing about the Saints’ chances between now and the rest of the season.
