Preview: Northampton Town vs Southampton - prediction, team news, lineups

League One’s Northampton Town welcome Championship’s Southampton to Sixfields Stadium for a first-round EFL Cup clash this Tuesday night.

Following a slow start to their league campaign, the Cobblers are set for a tricky evening as they welcome a Saints side which graced the Premier League with their presence just a few short months ago.

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Match preview

Northampton Town just about survived in the third tier last season, though their start to the current campaign has not filled the fans with much optimism.

The Cobblers were thumped 3-1 by Wigan Athletic in their season opener before being held to a goalless draw against Bradford City in their first home game.

Northampton fans are not very familiar with home successes, considering their side have only picked up one victory at the Sixfields Stadium since February – a trend that will be hard to break against a quality side like Southampton.

Another hard streak to snap will be Northampton’s dreadful recent history in the EFL Cup; in eight years, the club have only won two matches, bowing out in the first round in six of those seasons.

Southampton, on the other hand, have enjoyed a lot of success in the competition, reaching the semi-final and quarter-final in two of their last three campaigns.

Each of those cup runs has been followed up with Premier League relegation, though with the club playing in the second tier this season, that is something they do not have to worry about.

Speaking of their presence in the Championship, Saints marked their return to the competition with a 2-1 win over Wrexham on Saturday.

The hosts were 1-0 down heading into stoppage time, but a couple of strikes from Ryan Manning and Jack Stephens secured a memorable win.

Saints will now be looking to take their momentum into the EFL Cup when they take on a Northampton side they last met back in 2009.

Northampton Town form (all competitions):

L D

Southampton form (all competitions):

W

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Team News

Northampton are likely to be without centre back Jordan Thorniley, who only played the first 15 minutes against Bradford before being subbed off.

Elsewhere, the duo of Jon Guthrie and Liam Shaw are both nursing knee injuries, while Tom Eaves has got a thigh problem.

Southampton manager Will Still revealed it was his decision to leave Tyler Dibling out of his squad for last weekend’s clash with Wrexham.

Dibling has been heavily linked with Everton, with Still revealing that the 19-year-old is not in the right "headspace" to feature.

Sam Edozie and Joe Aribo were also absent from Saturday’s win, meaning the trio are likely to also miss out on selection on Tuesday.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis, meanwhile, is nursing an ankle injury and will remain on the sidelines.

Northampton Town possible starting lineup: Burge; Forbes, Dyche, Burroughs; Wormleighton, Fornah, Campbell, List; Hoskins, Wheatley, McGeehan

Southampton possible starting lineup: McCarthy; Quarshie, Stephens, Edwards; Welington, Charles, Downes, Sugawara; Robinson, Fraser; Downs

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We say: Northampton Town 0-3 Southampton

The gulf in quality between both teams is huge, and we expect Southampton to progress to the next round without too many issues.

Northampton are not only in poor form, but they also have a dodgy record at home, which makes us lean towards a big win for the visitors.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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