Southampton vs Crystal Palace. Carabao Cup Round 3.
St. Mary's StadiumAttendance14,080.
Wednesday 21 September 2016 10:10, UK
Southampton will be without Jay Rodriguez when they host Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.
Striker Rodriguez is sidelined by a groin complaint so Charlie Austin, who came off the bench to score the winner against Swansea on Sunday, could start.
Youngsters Harrison Reed and Lloyd Isgrove are in contention, but Sofiane Boufal and Jeremy Pied are still out with knee injuries.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew is expected to utilise his squad at Southampton.
Midfielder Yohan Cabaye could feature as he recovers from a groin problem, while Bakary Sako is another in need of match action along with forward Connor Wickham.
Defender James Tomkins picked up a knee injury in Sunday's 4-1 Premier League win over Stoke, while Pape Souare will be out for up to six months after he was injured in a car accident.
Southampton squad: Forster, McCarthy, Soares, Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand, Davis, Romeu, Clasie, Tadic, Redmond, Austin, Reed, Targett, Yoshida, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Long, Martina, Isgrove.
Crystal Palace squad: Hennessey, Kelly, Dann, Townsend, Puncheon, Cabaye, Zaha, Mutch, McArthur, Lee Chung-Yong, Benteke, Wickham, Mandanda, Delaney, Ward, Kelly, Flamini, Ledley, Puncheon, Sako, Fryers.
Charlie Nicholas
This is an interesting one and it could well be the tie of the round. I think both teams to score is a great bet, with both sides playing positively after good results at the weekend.
I don't quite get Claude Puel's persistence of putting Charlie Austin on the bench because he's the goalscorer in the pack but I think he will partner Jay Rodriguez in attack.
Palace might change a few things, although they'll also be keen to maintain the momentum they got from thumping Stoke on Sunday.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: Southampton 3-2 Crystal Palace, Austin to score first (80/1 with Sky Bet)
Opta stats
The last two League Cup meetings between Southampton and Crystal Palace have ended 2-0 to the Eagles (1992 and 2011).
Southampton have won seven of their last 10 matches against Palace in all competitions (L3).
Palace have conceded a combined total of eight goals in their last two League Cup matches against fellow Premier League opponents, losing both matches.
The Saints have kept just one clean sheet (2-0 v Portsmouth in 2003) in their last 19 League Cup matches against Premier League opponents.
Southampton have reached the fourth round of the League Cup in each of the last five seasons, making the quarter-finals in each of the last two.
