Southampton boss Ronald Koeman expects the weekend's meeting with Stoke City to provide some difficulty for his team.

The Saints host Mark Hughes' Potters at St Mary's on Saturday and Koeman is well aware of the dangers of the visitors having edged them 1-0 at home and lost 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium in last season's clashes.

"It's always hard to beat Stoke. We had that experience last year. We played against them three times and every game was difficult," he said.

"But it's the same for them. It's also difficult to beat Southampton. It will be a good game, because they have signed some good, technical players. Maybe they've changed their style a little bit, depending on the players they have available.

"We know it's a difficult one, but we're looking forward to it."

Southampton currently sit seventh on the Premier League table on the back of a six-game unbeaten streak while Stoke sit 12th having won four of their past six.