Outspoken Southampton critic eventually makes pleasing Saints prediction | OneFootball

Chris Sutton remains adamant about Southampton's shortcomings but expects them to beat Burnley today.

Well, praise and criticism are quite commonplace in the Premier League. Whether it's directed towards a team or any individual, there are many instances of former players and journalists often exaggerating match results and performances.

Honestly, most of that is almost negative, to say the least. Further, it isn't difficult to expect that Southampton would receive the majority of them due to their Premier League standings.

That being said, legendary Celtic striker Chris Sutton has been the most vocal critic in this regard. The Englishman has developed a reputation for downplaying struggling clubs and has never hesitated to talk about the Saints at length.

Hence, Sutton's latest comments will come as a surprise to every Southampton fan. Don't get me wrong, he hasn't changed his firm opinions about Southampton, especially not the Premier League ones.

Outspoken Southampton critic eventually makes pleasing Saints prediction

Instead, it's the FA Cup where he has provided an exciting winning prediction. Still, Sutton talked much about Burnley's schedule rather than Southampton's strengths to back his choice.

In his BBC Column, Sutton said: "Again, they have got a midweek league game coming up, at Hull City on Wednesday, which will be their priority. I think Parker will make changes here and they will fall foul of that."

Taking a closer look, the rotation reasoning isn't much off the charts. In fact, Burnley manager Scott Parker has already conveyed his feelings to rest some of his regular starters.

Though it's unclear how many changes Parker wants to make, still the more, the better for Southampton. The reason being that the Saints would prefer to leave St. Mary's with no further fatigue or injury concerns tonight.