Southampton host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night in a key mid-season relegation clash.
The Saints are rooted to the bottom of the table, with Nathan Jones still looking for his first point as a top-flight manager.
It's been an awful start for Jones at St Mary's
Southampton are on a dreadful run and have lost nine of their last 12 league games, with their last point coming against Arsenal in October.
Meanwhile, Forest have the worst away record in the league, having picked up just two points from their eight games away from the City Ground.
Steve Cooper's men have also scored just once on the road and conceded 22 times.
But the Saints have the worst home record, so something has to give with these two sat in 18th and 20th, respectively.
Southampton v Nottingham Forest: talkSPORT coverage
This Premier League game at St Mary's is set to take place on Wednesday, January 4.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30pm.
talkSPORT will have live and exclusive commentary from the south coast with Alex Crook and former Saints forward David Connolly.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
Forest are now much better at home but still struggle on the road
Southampton v Nottingham Forest: Team news
The Saints will be without Alex McCarthy, Tino Livramento, Juan Larios and Theo Walcott due to respective problems,
Livramento is closing in on a return after a serious knee injury.
Meanwhile, Forest's injury list is extensive and Cooper won't be able to call on the services of Moussa Niakhate, Jesse Lingard, Omar Richards, Cheikhou Kouyate or Giulian Biancone.
Ryan Yates is also one booking away from a suspension, but he has been one of Forest's most consistent performers and is unlikely to be dropped.
Southampton v Nottingham Forest: What has been said?
Forest boss Cooper on further transfers: "What's different between the last window and this one is Filippo Giraldi is in now as sporting director and he takes a lot of the responsibility for the transfer windows.
"I've been working really closely with him on a daily basis and the lines of communication are good it's all joined-up thinking.
It's a joined-up approach, there's no doubt. We've had changes in recruitment that people know about. Communication lines are good.
"But my focus is on the players who are available to train on a daily basis, ultimately, that's what my job is."
Southampton gaffer Nathan Jones on the transfer window: "There are certain positions we want to strengthen in because we need help and competition in those positions.
"That is (defence) one position where we would like to strengthen in. "But I'm not going to say anything on names now because there is a lot going on.
"It's not going to be a super busy January but we would like to make sure the squad we come out of January with is better."
Forest earned a hard-fought draw against Chelsea at the weekend
Southampton v Nottingham Forest: Match facts
- This will be the first meeting between Southampton and Nottingham Forest in any competition since the 2011-12 Championship campaign, when Saints won home and away against them.
- Nottingham Forest have never lost a Premier League away game against Southampton (W3 D2), winning their last such visit 2-1 in August 1998.
- Southampton have won their last two games against Nottingham Forest in all competitions, as many as they had in their previous 17 (D4 L11). They last won three in a row against Forest in January 1984.
- Southampton lost their last Premier League home game against a promoted side, going down 2-1 against Watford in March. They've not lost consecutive such matches since April/November 2001 (vs Ipswich and Blackburn).
- Nottingham Forest have failed to score in each of their last six away Premier League games, attempting 44 shots with an xG of 4.6 without success in this run. They've only gone seven away league games without a goal once before, between September and November 1970.
- Southampton have won their first league game in each of the last three calendar years, beating Tottenham in 2020, Liverpool in 2021 and Brentford in 2022. They've never won their first league game in four consecutive years before.
- Southampton have won fewer home points than any other Premier League side this season (6), while Nottingham Forest have won fewer away points than anyone else (2). In fact, Forest have scored just one goal on the road so far, the lowest after eight Premier League games since Crystal Palace in 2017-18 (0).
- Southampton lost nine home Premier League matches during 2022, their most in a single calendar year since 1998, when they lost 10 at the Dell. They also conceded 31 goals at St Mary's in 2022, only shipping more in home Premier League games in a year in 2019 (38).
- This match will see two Welsh managers (Nathan Jones and Steve Cooper) face in a Premier League match for only the 20th time, and first time since August 2017, when Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes shared a 1-1 draw as managers of West Brom and Stoke respectively. The only other two Welsh pairings as managers have been Chris Coleman vs Mark Hughes and Alan Curtis vs Tony Pulis.
- Steve Cooper's first eight away Premier League matches with Nottingham Forest has seen them score just once, the fewest goals ever scored in a manager's first eight away Premier League games. Forest have also conceded 22 goals in these games, the most in a manager's first eight away games since Jan Siewert in 2019 with Huddersfield (24 conceded).
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