Southampton striker Shane Long. (Photo : Getty Images)
Europa League qualifiers Southampton FC is set to host last season's promoted squad Watford FC at their home field of St. Mary's Stadium on Saturday, August 13 as the 2016-2017 Premier League season gets underway.
Southampton had lost a host of players during the ongoing summer transfer window including head coach Ronald Koeman to Everton and so the team looks somewhat new this coming season.
In Koeman's place is former Nice head coach Claude Puel who was signed to a three-year contract.
Those who were transferred in order of exit are forward Juanmi to Real Sociedad, midfielder Victor Wanyama to Tottenham Hotspur, winger Sadio Mane to Liverpool, defender Jason McCarthy to Walsall on loan, striker Graziano Pellè to Shandong Luneng, midfielder Gaston Ramirez to Middlesbrough, and goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga to Rayo Vallecano also on loan.
New additions to the squad are winger Nathan Redmond from Norwich City, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Bayern Munich, goalkeeper Alex McCarthy from Crystal Palace, and defender Jeremy Pied from Nice.
The Saints are coming off a 1-0 victory over La Liga club Athletic Bilbao in a friendly at St. Mary's on Sunday with resident striker Shane Long providing the winner, as per Daily Mail Online.
Meanwhile, Watford also has a new manager in former Inter Milan boss Walter Mazzarri after Spanish head coach Quique Sánchez Flores resigned at the end of last term.
Player movement is also plenty at the Vicarage Road with left back Miguel Layun moving to Porto, defender Gabriele Angella and forward Adalberto Penaranda to Udinese, and midfielder José Manuel Jurado to Espanyol to name a few.
The team also signed up new players such as striker Jerome Sinclair from Liverpool, center back Christian Kabasele from Genk, and forward Isaac Success from Granada.
The Hornets settled to a 2-2 draw with Ligue 1 outfit FC Lorient in their final preseason friendly held at the Vicarage Road last Saturday which saw their top two goalscorers Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo score the first two goals before allowing the visitors to equalize the match, the Watford Observer reported.
This match will be a tough test for Puel and Southampton as Watford remains to be one of the dark horses in the English top flight. Their new scoring duo of Long and Redmond is set to be assessed while Watford's Deeney and Ighalo are already battle-tested.
The predicted result is a close 2-1 win for Southampton.
Southampton starting lineup (4-3-1-2 formation): Forster; Martina, Yoshida, van Dijk, Targett; Romeu, Clasie, Ward-Prowse; Tadic; Long, Redmond
Watford starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Gomes; Nyom, Cathcart, Britos, Anya; Doucoure, Suarez, Capoue, Holebas; Deeney, Ighalo
