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2022/23 English Premier League
Matchday 1
Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
London, England
Saturday, 6 August 2022
Kick-off is at 16h00
Tottenham will be seeking their first win against Southampton in three games when they meet on the opening weekend of the 2022/23
Premier League season.
Antonio Conte's side picked up a solitary point from their two encounters with the Saints last term, having been beaten 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in February after playing out to a 1-1 draw at St Mary's two months prior.
Spurs went on an impressive run to snatch fourth place from arch-rivals Arsenal by winning 11 of their next 17 matches to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
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The north Londoners concluded their pre-season with a 1-0 defeat to Roma last weekend and Conte welcomed the test as it showed they need to pay more attention to the details.
"For sure, it was a very tough game, but I think it's good in this way, because in one week, we have to start the season," the Italian told SPURSPLAY.
"It's positive to have this type of test, a tough test, and to understand if we want to try to be competitive and try to get a win in every game, we have to continue to go strong in every situation.
"The players know we don't want to lose, even in a friendly game. Tonight, we lost due to a detail, because we conceded a goal from a corner, and we have to pay more attention because if you want to go to another level, you have to take care of the details."
Ralph Hasenhuttl will be under extreme pressure to deliver in the opening weeks of the new campaign after Southampton limped to a 15th-placed finish last term.
Hasenhuttl's team recorded just one victory in their last 10 outings and lost their final four to beat the drop by only five points as Burnley joined Watford and Norwich in being relegated.
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The south coast club brought their pre-season to a close with a 2-1 loss to Villarreal and Hasenhuttl was happy with what he saw from his players to suggest they will be ready for the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
"A very good test, I think it was a very good team and we have seen some good moments from us," the German said. "The two goals we conceded were where we know we have to learn the behaviours of the back five, but I think overall against a good footballing team it was a good test for us.
"We have had some good weeks and now we have the final one where we can use all the things we have seen in the last weeks to adapt and to perform well on the weekend and find the right XI to start next weekend."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Tottenham - 2
Southampton - 2
Draws - 1
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