The stats you need to know: Saints v Spurs

Spursforlife

Tottenham enter the new year with a trip to the seaside to take on relegation-threatened Southampton at the St Mary’s Stadium.

But will it be new year’s celebrations for Jose Mourinho’s men or will the Saints go marching on to a vital three points?

We will only know for sure around 5 pm on Wednesday but there are some important stats that we can look at for some clues as to who the victor may be.

Head to head

Tottenham have already enjoyed one success over Southampton this season when Tanguy Ndombèlé and Harry Kane struck either side of a Danny Ings strike to hand Spurs an important 2-1 win on home soil.

That was revenge though as the last time the Lilywhites traveled to the South Coast, a 2-1 result also occurred, but this time in favour of the Saints as Yann Valery and James Ward-Prowse suck late to cancel out Kane’s early goal.

Remarkably though, Harry kane has scored in his last five games against Southampton meaning if you are going to back a player to score, make sure it is England’s leading marksman.

Overall, Southampton has claimed 63 wins over the Lilywhites with Tottenham winning 82 and a total of 49 draws across all competitions since the pair first met in a 1-1 draw 1897.

This season’s stats

Eek, look away now Saints fans as a home win looks unlikely. With just eight points collected at St Mary’s this season, only West Ham have collected fewer points on home soil.

However, Spurs have hardly been prolific on the road either collecting just two wins and ten points to leave them 12th in the Premier League away table.

On the road is clearly where Mourinho has some work to do although Spurs have only lost once away at Southampton in their last seven visits.

Tottenham has also scored 12 more goals than Southampton this season with 36 and conceded nine fewer (29 to 38) meaning that on paper at least, it really should the Lilywhites who are celebrating success.

However, Southampton do come into the game on a run of form that has seen them collect seven out of a possible nine points in their last three Premier League games whilst Tottenham drew their last away game.

Perhaps backing the draw is where the sensible money is at!