Southampton try to get Armando Broja in down the right but Ben Gibson holds him off.

Dean Smith has lost four of his six Premier League games as a manager against Ralph Hasenhuttl. Only Pep Guardiola has won more games against him (five).

The game begins.

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Alan Hutton
Former Scotland defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

Southampton are flying under the radar. Their confidence is high and they will be looking at this game tonight thinking of it as a really good chance to take three points.

Glenn Murray
Former Crystal Palace striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

There are six or seven teams at the bottom in this relegation battle now. At the moment Brentford and Leeds are in freefall.

I do believe Dean Smith has made Norwich better. Unfortunately teams have started winning around them but nights like tonight are huge for them.

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Southampton have won the four most recent meetings at St Mary's.

Their only defeat in eight Premier League home games against Norwich came in January 1994.

Norwich won the reverse fixture 2-1 in November in their first match under Dean Smith. They last did the league double over Saints in the 2007-08 Championship campaign.

Norwich have named an unchanged Premier League starting XI for the first time since October against Chelsea... a game they lost 7-0.

Norwich have lost eight of their 11 league matches since the beginning of December.

Only three teams have lost as many of their first 25 fixtures of a Premier League season (16) and avoided relegation - Southampton in 1993-94, Leicester in 2014-15 and Crystal Palace in 2016-17.

The Canaries have scored six goals fewer than any other side in the division this season, while only Leeds have a worse defensive record.

Their total of 70 shots on target - at an average of 2.8 per game - is the lowest of any Premier League side.

Southampton

More from Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl: "There is a long way to go. Since the summer we have tried to develop our players and develop our game and the positive results against the big teams have helped to create belief and we look a settled and organised team.

"We are getting better and better and I think you can see that at the moment."

Italian Serie A

A good title race in Italy.

AC Milan have just drawn 1-1 with Udinese, which means Inter Milan will move level on points at the top if they beat Genoa later.

Napoli are only three points off Milan too.

Southampton have lost just once in 11 games, including two FA Cup ties (W6, D4).

Ralph Hasenhuttl's side are on a nine-match unbeaten league run at St Mary's, with their only home defeat this season coming against Wolves in September.

They last had a longer unbeaten home streak in the top flight between October 2004 and March 2005, spanning 12 games.

Southampton's tally of 32 points is their highest after 25 Premier League fixtures since 2015-16, when they finished sixth.

They earned a first Premier League clean sheet in 14 attempts when beating Everton 2-0 last weekend.

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Ralph Hasenhuttl said Mohamed Elyounoussi has been one of Southampton's stars of the season and praised the winger for his attitude after returning from his loan spell.

The Norway international spent two seasons on loan with Celtic after arriving at St Mary's in 2018, but this season has become a regular starter for the Saints, scoring seven goals and assisting three.

Hasenhuttl said: "He is absolutely a winger of the season.

"He is one of the players who has taken his chance, has shown up. The way we are playing at the moment, I was very positive in the summer that this player can help us in the future.

"He has learned to compete against physical teams and has learned now the way we want to play. He has absolutely 100% the DNA that we need to have in this position.

"He is a smart, intelligent footballer who can score goals and who has also the workload we need in this position."

Glenn Murray
Former Crystal Palace striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

It is a massive game especially for Norwich. They are not the form team coming into this and it will be a difficult task at St Mary's.

They put a good performance in at Anfield and they will look to build on that.

Norwich City

More from Norwich manager Dean Smith: "We don't take encouragement from the league table, our encouragement comes from the performance levels. Our last two games were against the top two and we felt we performed OK.

"We can't look at the table unless we win games and points. We were a little bit more aggressive in the second half against them at Carrow Road and I felt we defended a little bit too deep at times and if you do that they can open you up.

"Tim [Krul] has come back and trained the last couple of days but I just felt he had not had enough training time to get back in and Angus [Gunn] has done well."

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Dean Smith has urged Christos Tzolis to forget about his price tag as he looks to rebuild the winger's confidence.

The Greece international arrived at Carrow Road in August on a five-year deal for £8.8m but has only managed two goals and two assists so far this season.

He's not even in the matchday squad for this game.

Smith said: "We're working with him to help him improve.

"His confidence has obviously been hit by not playing as much and not being involved. We're trying to get him the game time so that we can improve his productivity and his confidence.

"We're talking to him and he understands it. I feel for the lad - it's not his fault that we go and buy a player for a certain amount of money, but they have to live with that tag.

"I just want him to get back to not worrying about that and just getting back to enjoying his football."

Norwich manager Dean Smith: "We can't concentrate on the table at the moment.

"If we perform well, we have got a good chance of getting the results. "We are not concentrating really on other results, we are just concentrating on ourselves and hopefully force some of those other teams in."

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl: "We speak this way about teams like Tottenham or Arsenal, if we can end up in this part of the table at the end of the season it means that we will have done a good job so far because the clubs behind us also have quality and will take points.

"So we have to consistently perform and when we do this there is always a chance to stay where we are in the moment."

Mark Lawrenson
BBC football expert

Norwich are back at the bottom of the table but I watched the Canaries when they lost at Liverpool last weekend and I was impressed.

Dean Smith's side showed lots of spirit and carried the fight to Liverpool, which doesn't always happen. I see lots of teams go to Anfield and lie down and wait to be beaten.

This is another tough trip for Norwich, though, because Southampton have only lost once at St Mary's all season and are on a good little run at the moment too.

Prediction: 2-0

Andrew Sadler: Let’s hope Saints can keep this good run going against Norwich tonight