Wrexham vs Southampton: TV channel, kick-off time, live stream, referee, injury and team news
Fresh off a sensational FA Cup win against Premier League leaders Arsenal, the big games don’t stop coming for Southampton. They travel to Wrexham in the Championship, looking to consolidate their spot in the top six and earn their place in the playoffs at the end of the season.
Wrexham struggled at the weekend and only managed a 2-2 draw at West Bromwich Albion, hurting their playoff chances — even if they came back from 2-0 down to rescue a point in that game. As it stands, Wrexham are just a point ahead of Southampton having played one game more.
Here’s everything you need to know about the game.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK, Paramount+ in the U.S., FanCode in India and BeIN Sports in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Tuesday, April 7 at 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET; 12:30 a.m. IST, Wednesday and 5 a.m. AEST, Wednesday).
Venue: STōK Cae Ras, Wrexham
Referee: Gavin Ward
Injury and Team News:
Wrexham
Ben Sheaf, M: knock, DOUBT
Liberato Cacace, D: knee, OUT
Matty James, M: finger, DOUBT
Southampton
Alex McCarthy, G: wrist, OUT
Jack Stephens, D: muscle, DOUBT
Mads Roerslev, D: knee, OUT
Welington, D: muscle, DOUBT
Talking Points:
A massive game in this Championship season
With both clubs unlikely to make the automatic promotion spots, Wrexham and Southampton have their eyes firmly fixed on the last playoff spot — a spot that would become much more achievable with a win in this game. While nothing will be settled mathematically, there is a sense that this is the proverbial six-pointer.
It has all the makings of a classic, to add to the ones that have already played out in the rise and rise of Wrexham under their Hollywood owners.
Arsenal win will lift Southampton
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
At any point in the season, a win over the Premier League leaders is huge for confidence. For Southampton to do it in a quarterfinal just as they head into the business end of the Championship season is absolutely massive.
The manner of that win was huge too. It could’ve been easy for Southampton heads to drop when Viktor Gyökeres scored the equaliser for Arsenal midway through the second half, but they kept pushing.
It’s those kinds of wins that define a season, and even if it happened in a different competition, it could be the result Southampton look back on at the end of the campaign as the one that spurred them on higher, and maybe even to the Premier League.
Is this Wrexham’s last chance?
It could well be. If they lose, they’ll be two points behind Southampton, having played a game more. So, the importance of a win for Phil Parkinson’s team cannot be understated. If they don’t win, then Wrexham’s fate won’t be in their hands anymore. They will be reliant on the likes of Hull City and Ipswich Town dropping points.
Parkinson will know that, but he will at least take comfort from the fact that this Wrexham setup have had no shortage of absolutely massive ties in the context of promotion in the last few years.
Right from that decisive non-league playoff tie against Notts County three seasons ago, Wrexham have had the habit of producing huge results at huge moments at the Racecourse. Tuesday night is another opportunity to do so.
Tonda Eckert’s sterling job at Southampton
Midway through the season, Southampton were in the lower echelons of the Championship and were staring at, best case, a season of mid-table mediocrity. Enter, Tonda Eckert.
He’s masterminded a superb rise up the table during his five months at the club. Currently, Southampton’s unbeaten run across all competitions stretches to 15 games — a feat that looked impossible when the Saints were meandering along under Will Still early in the season.
However, all that good work to put themselves in this position will count for nothing if Southampton can’t do the job at the business end of the season.
Of course, they have their big day at Wembley coming up against Manchester City in the FA Cup semifinal, but perhaps their biggest priority now will be to ensure that they finish in the top six in the Championship, and Eckert has shown in spades that he is the man to get them there.
