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• Martin embarrassed by Southampton's Premier League points tally

  Russell Martin believes Southampton should have more points on the board in the Premier League this season ahead of their clash with Tottenham on Sunday.

  The Saints have won just once this season, with two draws adding up to a dismal five points, which leaves them bottom of the standings having lost their other 12 games since promotion.

  Southampton are winless in five matches in the top-flight, losing the last two on the bounce, and have a goal difference of minus 20, having conceded 31 goals while scoring just 11.

  "We shouldn't be on the points that we are. It is incredibly hurtful and embarrassing to be on five points - we should have more," said Martin.

  "But there have been a few too many mistakes and a few too many moments that we haven't managed well.

  "We have had disappointments in games and setbacks, but we have to keep trying to grow - to grow as a group, to grow individually and prepare the players for those moments when it is tough and find ways for them to cope emotionally."

  They face a Spurs side struggling for form, with Martin saying he has "a lot of respect" for under-pressure Ange Postecoglou.

  Spurs have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions, and are currently winless in five, with the manager coming under scrutiny for his style of play.

  Postecoglou's side sit 11th in the table, seven points behind the top four ahead of the weekend, and he is keen to get the basics right to get back on track at St. Mary's.

  "We can't dismiss the situation we're in at the moment," Postecoglou said. "We're very limited at the moment what we can do from a team perspective.

  "There's a lot of players playing a lot of games, and they're giving their all, but they're going to lack a little bit of sharpness as we cannot give them a rest.

  "Within that context, it's about making sure that there's some basics in our game that we push through."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Southampton – Ben Brereton Diaz

  Ben Brereton Diaz has not won any of his 24 Premier League games in spells at Sheffield United (14) and Southampton (10), drawing six and losing 18.

  Only Oliver Burke (25) has had a longer winless run from the start of a Premier League career, and it is a streak that the striker will be desperate to end sooner rather than later.

  Tottenham – Dejan Kulusevski

  Dejan Kulusevski could make his 100th Premier League appearance in this match, with his first also coming against Southampton back in February 2022.

  He has 21 assists in the league, with only Son Heung-min providing more for Spurs since his debut (24).

  MATCH PREDICTION: TOTTENHAM WIN

  Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League games against sides starting the day bottom of the table (W10 D3), since a 1-0 loss at West Bromwich Albion in May 2018. Spurs have scored 42 goals in this run, netting at least three times in each of the last eight.

  In fact, Spurs have only failed to score in one of their last 22 Premier League meetings with Southampton, a 1-0 away loss in January 2020.

  However, Postecoglou's side have lost 14 of their 33 Premier League games so far in 2024 (W14 D5), just one fewer than they did in 42 games in 2023. They last lost 15+ league games in consecutive calendar years in 2002 (15), 2003 (20) and 2004 (15).

  Southampton, meanwhile, have won just one of their last 28 Premier League games (D6 L21), with their 1-0 win over Everton in November their only clean sheet in their last 27 in the competition.

  The Saints have also lost just one of their last six home league games against Spurs (W2 D3), going down 5-2 in September 2020.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Southampton – 25.3%

  Draw – 22.5%

  Tottenham – 52.3%

• Alexander-Arnold: Liverpool capable of winning trophies this season

  Trent Alexander-Arnold expects Liverpool to win silverware this season after they "sent a statement" with their wins over Real Madrid and Manchester City.

  The Reds currently sit top of the Premier League, four points clear of second-place Chelsea, and eight points ahead of reigning champions City with a game in hand.

  Arne Slot has made an almost seamless start to his tenure, with Liverpool losing just one of their games under him in all competitions so far – a 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest – while they have a perfect record in the Champions League, winning all six of their matches.

  Liverpool are currently on an 18-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and are the favourites to lift the Premier League trophy, with an 82.4% chance of finishing first at the end of the season.

  "This is where we want to be [at the top of the table]," Alexander-Arnold, who is in the final year of his contract, told Sky Sports.

  "It is still early days, so we can't get too excited. But if you told us this at the start of the season, we'd have massive smiles on our faces.

  "We're in a very, very good position, very strong position - more so in the league than the Champions League, because it then becomes knockout football and what you've done so far doesn't really matter.

  "We just need to stay consistent over the next few months and put ourselves in the best position possible.

  "I think we [can] win multiple trophies. I think that's the level that we're at, that's the level we've shown that we're capable of, beating the best teams in the world."

   

  Liverpool picked up under Slot where they left off under Jurgen Klopp and have scored two or more goals in each of their last seven Premier League games, last having a longer such run between September and December 2021 (11 in a row).

  The Reds have scored 76 goals in 33 games in 2024, their second-best average goals per game in a year (2.3) in the Premier League era, scoring at a rate of 2.38 goals per game in 2019 (88 in 37 games).

  Slot's side comfortably beat Man City 2-0 in their last home Premier League game, following on from a 2-0 win over Madrid in the Champions League, and Alexander-Arnold believes that could be the turning point.

  "I think that was just a statement week for the team, for the club. Probably they are our two biggest rivals in Europe and domestically over the last five or six years," he added.

  "I guess we've struggled to overcome them as a team. So, to beat them both in the space of a few days was something that really sent a statement to everyone that we're a real team.

  "And whether they wanted to believe it before that or they don't believe it still, it doesn't bother us. We know what level we are. What others want to think about us doesn't affect us.

  "We know the quality we've got. We know what levels we can hit. We know we've still got a lot to improve, and we will, and we'll get better throughout the season, which I think is good for us and bad for anyone else."

• Derby County 4-0 Portsmouth: Hosts run rampant in much-needed win

  Derby County ended a six-game winless streak with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Portsmouth in the Championship on Friday.

  Three goals in the opening 30 minutes put the game beyond Pompey, before Marlon Pack's own goal assured Derby of three points that moved them away from the relegation zone.

  The hosts took just eight minutes to break the deadlock, splitting Portsmouth open with two impressive throughballs before Nathaniel Mendez-Laing squared it into the box to set up Kane Wilson's close-range finish.

  Eiran Cashin rose high to thump a powerful header in for their second, with Ebou Adams adding to their tally just before the half-hour mark with the help of a big deflection off Tom McIntyre.

  Jerry Yates forced a good save out of Nicolas Schmid before the break, though Derby took their foot off the gas in the second half before Marcus Harness, formerly of Portsmouth, saw his low cross turned in by Pack in the 65th minute.

  They could have made it five late on - Abdoulaye Kamara's blind backpass was almost pounced on by Kayden Jackson, who had wrongfooted the goalkeeper, but Schmid scrambled back to his line to spare the defender's blushes. 

  Data Debrief: Total dominance

  From that performance, it is hard to believe Derby had not won a match in the Championship since early November, but they did not look back after a stellar first half.

  The Rams scored with their first three shots on target, having seven overall from their 17 efforts as they created 1.14 expected goals (xG).

  Portsmouth, meanwhile, remain just above the drop zone, only above Cardiff City having scored more goals. However, they failed to test Jacob Widell Zetterstrom once on Friday, despite having one big chance.