Southampton vs Walsall Prediction: Saints to march to another victory at St Mary’s

After an uncertain start to his tenure, Russell Martin has really got Southampton purring in the Championship, and the south coast club head into this Saturday's FA Cup third round clash with Walsall (KO, 15:00) on a 17-game unbeaten run.

Naturally, the Saints start as huge favourites for this cup tie at St Mary's, against a side sat mid-table in League Two.

The Saddlers are in terrific form themselves, though, winning six of their last seven games in all competitions, and they began the new year with a 6-1 hammering of Grimsby Town.

Team News

Jan Bednarek and Samuel Edozie are doubts for Saturday after both failed to make it to the second-half in Monday's 1-1 draw at Norwich City. The duo could join Kamaldeen Sulemana and James Bree on the sidelines, both of whom have missed multiple matches recently, while Ross Stewart is a long-term absentee and Joe Aribo has departed to the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria.

Che Adams and Ryan Fraser replaced Bednarek and Edozie earlier in the week, and both are in line for a start on Saturday. Sekou Mara, Carlos Alcaraz and Shea Charles will also be hoping to earn starts against Walsall.

Like their opponents, the visitors also have a week until their next game, so boss Mat Sadler could name a strong starting XI. 19-year-old striker Freddie Draper, though, could miss out after an injury saw him substituted in the first-half of Monday's win at Grimsby.

Ryan Stirk, Ross Tierney, Joe Riley, Oisin McEntee and Aramide Oteh are also set to miss the match, with Jamille Matt rated doubtful.

Match Odds

Southampton are 1/4 to return to winning ways on Saturday, after a draw with the Canaries ended a run of four victories in a row. The visitors, meanwhile, are big outsiders at 9/1 to win and advance to the fourth round, and the draw, which would force a replay at the Bescot Stadium, is priced at 5/1.

Both teams to score has landed in both of these teams' last two games, and it's 4/5 for them to make it three in a row this weekend.

Southampton half-time/full-time @ 8/11

Southampton have been leading at half-time on seven occasions at St Mary's this season, going on to win six of those games.

They can take encouragement from Walsall's away record, too, with seven of Walsall's eight defeats on the road this term seeing them down at the interval.

At home, this is a game the Saints should be comfortably winning, even if changes are made.

An eighth win on the bounce at St Mary's should be a formality, and Martin's side will be wanting to put the tie to bed as quickly as possible.

Southampton to win to nil @ 23/20

Walsall have scored in their last seven games, hitting nine across their last two, but before that run they had failed to score in three consecutive matches, including away to National League North side Alfreton Town in the FA Cup second round.

Southampton, meanwhile, have won three of their last five games without conceding, and before their 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle on December 29, they had won to nil in four consecutive games at St Mary's.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.

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