Southampton v West Brom, 15:00
– A disciplined defensive performance was enough to see Southampton to an important point in a 0-0 draw with Swansea last time out.
– Defender Maya Yoshida has maintained his excellent standards for reading the game in recent weeks as the season draws to a close. The Japanese international currently sits 4th on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for interceptions with 195.
– Morgan Schneiderlin is another who has continyed in the same vein he has been playing in all season, still sitting atop the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for total tackles with 143. His accuracy has been slightly wayward at times though, given that his tackle success rate (59.4%) places him 4th amongst the top 10 players for total tackles attempted.
– The performances of Rickie Lambert have lead to many Southampton supporters to call for England call-up for the old school striker. His primary asset for this Southampton team hasn’t just been his own goals (14), but also his ability to use his strength to bring others into play a fact demonstrated by the 9 assists he has to his name this season. Only the much more celebrated Van Persie, Tevez and Rooney can boast better assist-figures than Lambert.
– A relatively evenly-fought contest saw West Brom share the spoils with Newcastle last weekend, Billy Jones’ goal earning the Baggies a 1-1 draw.
– Gareth McAuley will be keen to cap a fine season by breaking through a personal landmark this weekend, with the Northern Irishman currently sitting on 299 defensive contributions for the season, a Baggies squad-high.
– Midfielder James Morrison remains the fulcrum of this West Brom side, leading the Baggies squad across numerous statistical fields according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. He’s now racked up 586 successful passes in the opponent’s half for the season, as well as 7 assists.
– Youssouf Mulumbu will be crucial to preventing Southampton from getting into their stride this weekend, his ability to break down opposition play a key facet of his game. No West Brom midfielder has made more defensive contributions than Mulumbu, his 120 at an average rate of 19.3 minutes currently setting the standard.