Vital Posh looks at the form of both Peterborough United and Southampton ahead of the npower Championship clash at London Road on Tuesday.
Peterborough United entertain local promotion chasing Southampton at London Road on Tuesday looking for the one point needed to confirm they will be playing in the championship next season.
Having been at the top of the Championship since mid-September, Southampton were finally knocked off the top of the perch by Reading who won the table topping clash 3-1 last Friday.
Will Posh feel the full backlash from the Saints?
Peterborough United
It was another miserable match for Posh at the weekend as some howlers by keeper Paul Jones set up a comfortable 4-1 win by Leeds United.
Posh seem to be out for the count with no life left after yet another performance that lacked conviction and for large parts of the game on Saturday, no effort at all!!
Still needing a point to guarantee their Championship survival, Posh must up their game if they are to get anything out of this very tough match against the Saints.
If energy levels are at an all time low, things have got worse with the season-ending injury for Gaby Zakuani meaning Posh are down to just one recognized central defender.
Posh dropped down to 18th place again following their defeat on Saturday and now have 48 points from 43 games. They are just 8 points from the relegation positions with 3 games remaining of the season which means third from bottom Coventry must win all their remaining games with Posh losing all theirs for Posh to be in trouble. Based on current form, this could actually happen but it also depends on the other sides below Posh not collecting at least two wins from three matches.
So far this season at home, Posh have won ten, drawn two and lost nine. They have netted 38 times while conceding 33 goals.
Paul Taylor is the top League scorer for Posh this season with 11 goals. Emile Sinclair is close behind with 10 goals but he looks like missing this game through injury. Grant McCann has 8 goals while Lee Tomlin and George Boyd are only one goal behind McCann on seven goals. Tyrone Barnett [pictured below] has 17 League goals which includes four goals for Posh.
Posh have now gone 118 games since they last finished a League game goalless! That was away at Ipswich on 8th December 2009.
Recent home form: LWWLWL
| Last Six Home Results | |||||||
| Mon 09 Apr | Peterborough | 0 | – | 1 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| Sat 31 Mar | Peterborough | 1 | – | 0 | Leicester | ||
| Tue 27 Mar | Peterborough | 0 | – | 2 | West Ham | ||
| Tue 20 Mar | Peterborough | 3 | – | 1 | Reading | ||
| Sat 10 Mar | Peterborough | 3 | – | 1 | Blackpool | ||
| Tue 06 Mar | Peterborough | 0 | – | 3 | Millwall | ||
Southampton
The Saints dropped off the top spot last Friday when succumbing to a 3-1 home defeat by Reading which saw the Royals leapfrog them.
Since gaining promotion from League One last season, the Saints have gone from strength to strength and had been on top of the Championship since mid-September until Friday.
They will certainly be looking to get back to winning ways against a tired Posh team and put pressure back on Reading as they are determined to finish the season as Champions.
The Saints are in 2nd place in the npower Championship with 82 points from 43 games and are hoping to pull away from 3rd placed West Ham who are 3 points behind them.
They have scored 32 goals away from home while conceding 25 times in their 21 away League games.
Southampton`s last away match finished in a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace. They have won nine times away from home this season while drawing six and losing six times.
Richard Lambert is not only the leading goalscorer in the League this season for Southampton but also the Championship. He has amassed 27 League goals so far. Adam Lallana and Guly Do Prado both have 10 goals with David Connelly 4 behind on 6 goals.
Recent away form: WWWWLW
| Last Six Away Results | |||||||
| Mon 09 Apr | Crystal Palace | 0 | – | 2 | Southampton | ||
| Sat 31 Mar | Blackpool | 3 | – | 0 | Southampton | ||
| Tue 20 Mar | Hull City | 0 | – | 2 | Southampton | ||
| Sat 17 Mar | Millwall | 2 | – | 3 | Southampton | ||
| Sat 03 Mar | Leeds United | 0 | – | 1 | Southampton | ||
| Sat 25 Feb | Watford | 0 | – | 3 | Southampton | ||
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UP THE POSH Follow me on Twitter: @mwl1967
Photos courtesy of www.theposhpics.com
