Southampton vs Leicester City: Ghanaian Defenders Mo Salisu and Amartey Face-off

Southampton vs Leicester City: Ghanaian Defenders Mo Salisu and Amartey Face-off

Emmanuel Kwame Donkor
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:51 PM
In this article:
English Premier League logo
ENG Premier League
England
  • Southampton will look to bounce back from their recent slump when they welcome Leicester City to St. Mary’s in the Premier League on Wednesday evening
  • Leicester will be hoping for back-to-back wins after their 4:2 win over Claudio Ranieri's Watford over the last weekend
  • Ghanaian players Mohammed Salisu and Daniel Amartey will be hoping to feature in the mid-week EPL fixture but it looks like the latter might miss out

Ghanaian defenders Mohammed Salisu and Daniel Amartey are up for selection for their various teams in the English Premier League (EPL) match-day 14 fixture.

Of the two players, Mohammed Salisu on a personal level, has had a great season so far with his performances earning him a spots in the team of the week more than once.

On a team level though, Daniel Amartey's Leicester City are having a much better season both in the domestic campaign and the European one.

Southampton vs Leicester City: Ghanaian Defender Salisu to Feature, Amartey Unlikely
Ghanaian Internationals, Mohammed Salisu and Daniel Amartey. Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter

Southampton managed a four-game unbeaten streak before the international break, but two huge defeats away from home against Norwich and Liverpool have seen the Saints slip to 15th in the table after 13 games – five points off the relegation zone.

The same fixture in 2019 produced the biggest defeat for a Premier League side ever with the Saints falling to a 9:0 defeat at the hands of Leicester City.

However, the South Coast outfit will certainly hope for better fortunes this time around in front of their home crowd.

The Saints will play their first home game since Premier League action resumed this month; they have a good recent record at home, notching a massive seven points from the last nine available at St. Mary’s, without conceding a goal in two of those games Burnley and Aston Villa.

Mo Salisu on the rise in England

Southampton, regardless of their 4:0 throbbing at the hands of Liverpool over the weekend, have had on solid defender in Ghana's Mohammed Salisu, and that can be seen from the fact that he has played all 13 Southampton games i the EPL this season, clocking the entire 90 minues in 12 of them.

The central defensive pairing of Jan Bednarek and Mohammed Salisu, wanted by the Black Stars, was broken up into a three man center back pairing in the Liverpool game and was probably why Salisu did not stand out.

In Wednesday night's game, the 22-year-ol Ghanaian is poised to make his 13th start for the Saints against Brenden Rodger's men, and he would hope his manager Ralph Hasenhuttl reverts backs to a their preferred 4-4-2 system.

With 34 interceptions, 20 headed clearances, 51 foot clearances, one off-the-line clearance, and two blocked shots so far, Salisu, who has been named in the EPL team of the week a couple of times already this season, will hope he bags another good game against the likes of Jamie Vardy and Maddison.

Daniel Amartey has a stiff competition

His 606 minutes in the English top flight for Leicester City might be inferior to Salisu's 1000 plus minutes, but Amartey has featured in four of the Foxes last five games in all competitions.

Amartey was left out of the starting eleven by manger Brendon Rodgers in Leicester 4:2 win over Watford last weekend, with Çağlar Söyüncü coming back into the fold.

Daniel Amartey's six interceptions, 12 headed clearances, and 14 foot clearances in the league in no match for Salisu's numbers and probably other top defenders in the EPL, hence why he's absence in tonight's game purely tactical, will not come as a surprise.

Video of Sammy Adjei, Ghana's GOAT Goalkeeper wow saves

Meanwhile YEN.com.gh has sighted a video highlight of incredible saves made by former Ghana Black Stars and Accra Hearts of Oak goalkeeper, Sammy Adjei.

Sammy Adjei earned plaudits for his performance almost every week for Accra Hearts of Oak in the Ghana Premier League (GPL).

Authors
Emmanuel Kwame Donkor photo
Emmanuel Kwame Donkor
Ghana Sports Editor
Tags
Ghana