Southampton's exceptional performance at Wembley Stadium last Sunday may have been more fuelled by the occasion than anything else - with the Saints on a run of six defeats from eight away from the League Cup.

Claude Puel's side have been inconsistent throughout the season, and since winning at Bournemouth in mid-December, have only beaten hapless Leicester and relegation-threatened Sunderland in the top flight.

However, the Saints clearly possess more talent than they have shown - as they demonstrated against Manchester United last weekend, falling only to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late header.

Opposition view

Adam Leitch, chief sports writer at the Southern Daily Echo, feels Puel may have a tough job on his hands to inspire his team following their League Cup final defeat.

He told us: "The hardest thing is going to be for him to pick his players up following the EFL Cup final defeat against Manchester United and focus on the league again.

"Saints still have 13 Premier League games to play, but with European qualification looking too far away to be a realistic target and relegation also not a concern, it could be hard to focus again following the heartbreak at Wembley.

"Puel will want some momentum back in the season and to do that Saints could do with a win at Watford, but the reaction of the players remains to be seen.

"Whether they can really get going again for this one will have a large bearing on the result but, given the circumstances, a decent performance and a draw would be perfectly acceptable."

Team news

Southampton have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this afternoon's game, meaning Puel may name an unchanged side from the one so unlucky against United.

Watford Observer:

Influential defender and last season's player of the year Virgil Van Dijk is still sidelined, while Fraser Forster, who picked up an injury during last week's game but stayed on, should be fine to start.

Man to mark

Watford Observer: Picture Action ImagesPicture Action Images

Manolo Gabbiadini's spell in England has been brief but already influential, and with only three games under his belt he is the Saints' second-top scorer with five goals.

The Hornets' backline will have a job on their hands to keep the Italian quiet, while Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri has come out as an admirer of the forward this week.

Recent form

It's not been a good 2017 for Southampton, in the Premier League at least.

A win over Leicester City at St Mary's and another at Sunderland a fortnight ago have been overshadowed by some really poor defeats against teams Puel would have expected to beat - including the likes of Swansea and West Ham.

The Saints have picked up only two wins from their last 10 away games, but did unleash a 4-0 thrashing at the Stadium of Light last time out.

The Watford connection

Watford Observer:

Southampton are unbeaten in their last six games with the Hornets, dating back to 2008 when goals from Tamas Priskin and John Eustace gave Watford a 3-0 win at St Mary's in the Championship.

Watford have won 17 and Southampton 20 of their 47 meetings in all competitions, but the Saints have only emerged victorious twice in league encounters from Vicarage Road, from 19 attempts.

What they've said

Saints boss Puel said he hopes his side can continue their performance from last week's cup final in the build-up to today's game, and is expecting a tough test from the Hornets.

“They are a difficult team,” he said. “They have good closing of the lines and they are physically very strong in their play.

“It’s always difficult to play against this team, because they have a good counter and like direct play.”