Southampton V Sheffield Wednesday The Preview Wednesday, 9th Nov 2022 09:12 Saints take on Sheffield Wednesday for the first time in 10 years as they look to progress in the Carabao Cup this evening at St Mary's, for their part Saints will be led by caretaker manager Ruben Selles, as one era ends and another is about to begin. On the face of it tonight's Carabao Cup tie at St Mary's has all the ingredients for an upset, despite all their pedigree Sheffield Wednesday are currently in League One, but they are fighting for promotion and arrive on the South Coast high on confidence and sitting 3rd from top in the division. In contrast Saints are also in 3rd, sadly 3rd from bottom in the Premier League and once again in a little turmoil, with Ralph Hasenhuttl departed and Ruben Selles in charge for the evening it will be interesting to see how he changes things. The reality though will be it will be a mainly second string line up although that will still have plenty of experience, as was the case at Cambridge United in the previous round.
Will Selles throw in a youth player or two as happened at the Abbey Stadium, or will he look to keep it solid. Certainly Dominic Ballard & Lewis Payne made their mark that night, but perhaps the name most would like to see in the squad would be Tyler Dibling, this could be a game that he could make his mark, although I suspect that it would have to be off the bench.
Hopefully our caretaker manager will be mindful of the need to not only give Saints supporters a bit of a boost in a week when many suddenly celebrated the sacking of Ralph Hasenhuttl were quickly brought back down to earth and perhaps thinking be careful what you wish for, when the rumours started that Luton Town manager Nathan Jones was said to be his replacement, Saints fans need something to smile about and that means a victory in this competition and the chance of a good cup run. Saints last met the Owls in September 2012, newly promoted back to the Premier League we needed something to smile about back then, meeting at the same stage of the competition at St Mary's, a few days earlier we had just got our first points on the board at the fifth attempt. It was a mixed Saints team that took the field and it included James Ward Prowse who had newly broken into the first team, however it didn't include the likes of Rickie Lambert & Adam Lallana & several other first team players. Nor the much vaunted Luke Shaw who had played in the previous round but not yet in the League.
It was a 2-0 win for Saints with Jay Rodriguez notching in the 30th minute and putting it to bed in the 78th with a penalty. Saints fans will be hoping for the same again. I would think that Ruben Selles will rest a few for the trip to Anfield, but he will struggle to do that at the back, with both Kyle Walker Peters & Tino Livramento out, he is going to be short of options in the back line, I think that on the right we could again see Lewis Payne with Juan Larios on the left.
But in the midfield and attack I would hope to see some of the fringe players, we are yet to really see what Sekou Mara can do and I would expect him to start this game, alongside the likes of Adam Armstrong, Ibrahima Diallo, Sam Edozie, Moussa Djenepo, Theo Walcott as well as a couple of first team regulars and a smattering of youth.
Sheffield Wednesday will be a different proposition than Cambridge were in the last round, so we should not be too complacent. The start of a new era at Southampton beckons, but in the meantime let's bring some cheer to St Mary's Stadium and get back to winning ways. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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