Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers meet on Sunday afternoon, both hoping to collect a vital three points to kickstart their stuttering seasons into life.

The two sides have both endured difficult starts to the new campaign, with Saints yet to bag that all important win, while Wolves have only enjoyed the sweet taste of victory on one occasion.

Bruno Lage’s first success as Wolves boss in the 2-0 win over Watford was quickly forgotten, as they fell to defeat to newly-promoted Brentford by the same scoreline a week later at Molineux.

Ralph Hasenhuttl might be beginning to feel the pressure at St Mary’s, and he’ll sense this clash to be an excellent opportunity to bag a big three points. But who will come out on top?

Here’s 90min’s preview of the big game.

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When is it being played? Sunday 26 September, 14:00 (BST)
Where is the match being played? St Mary’s Stadium
TV channel? Sky Sports (UK), FuboTV (US)
Referee? Andy Madley
VAR? Paul Tierney

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The big news for Southampton is that Jack Stephens is set to miss a large chunk of the season, after suffering a serious knee injury in the goalless draw with Manchester City. Mohammed Salisu is likely to take his place in the heart of the defence, which will be keen to collect another clean sheet.

Hasenhuttl is unlikely to make many – if any – other changes to a side that performed so admirably at the Etihad Stadium, meaning Adam Armstrong will lead the line for Saints with Che Adams in support.

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It’ll be interesting to see whether Lage decides to make any alterations to the side that crumbled at home to Brentford.

One of the big selection headaches will come in attack, with the likes of Daniel Podence and Hwang-Hee Chan pushing for a start ahead of Francisco Trincao and Raul Jimenez.

The Wolves boss may stick with his current attacking partnership for another week though, giving some of the misfiring forwards one last chance to prove their worth. Defender Rayan Ait-Nouri is out, after Lage confirmed he cannot be selected due to concussion protocols.

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Southampton: McCarthy; Livramento, Bednarek, Salisu, Walker-Peters; Elyounoussi, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Redmond; Armstrong, Adams

Wolves: Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal; Traore, Jimenez, Trincao

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Southampton and Wolves shared the bragging rights in this fixture for the 2020/21 campaign, winning one each and drawing once in their three meetings. Pedro Neto grabbed a point in a 1-1 tie at Molineux in November 2020, but Southampton silenced Wolves‘ home crowd with a 2-0 win in the FA Cup.

Wolves then got their revenge at St Mary’s, coming from behind to secure a 2-1 victory through goals from Ruben Neves and Pedro Neto.

Prior to last season Wolves produced a brilliant fightback on the south coast, overturning a 2-0 deficit with Jimenez clinching a 3-2 comeback and bagging his own personal brace. So, this fixture has not been short of entertainment in recent meetings.

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Predicting a winner out of two teams seriously struggling to rack up the points is not easy, and neither side is an obvious favourite. Wolves have shown more goalscoring intent this season, and their front three does possess some serious firepower.

Southampton are canny operators though, and on their day, they can be a tricky customer for any side in the country. So, we fancy both teams to get on the scoresheet, but ultimately be forced to share the spoils on the south coast.

Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Wolves