Gloucester Rugby will look to leapfrog Northampton in the Premiership table when they face the Saints at Franklins Gardens on Saturday.
The Cherry & Whites moved back into the top four last weekend, with a bonus point win over Harlequins at Kingsholm, and face a similarly difficult game this weekend.
Northampton are one of the form sides in the league, having won their last three games in the competition, and beat high-flying Sale 38-34 in a thriller last time out.
Both sides will be missing key internationals with Saints being without captain Lewis Ludlam, while Gloucester are without Steven Varney and Louis Rees-Zammit
Gloucester do name an unchanged starting XV which sees Chris Harris start, having missed out on selection for Scotland vs France.
The only change to the squad sees Billy Twelvetrees take the place of Rees-Zammit on the bench.
Saints have made a few changes, with James Grayson starting ahead of Fin Smith at 10 and former Gloucester player Calum Braley replaces the injured Tom James in an all new half-back partnership.
Released England players Tommy Freeman, David Ribbans and Fraser Dingwall are all involved as well.
Gloucester won the reverse fixture 34-19 at Kingsholm in December with tries from Jack Singleton, Chris Harris, Santiago Carreras and Fraser Balmain. Singleton and Balmain are both injured but Harris and Carreras and Harris are in good form.
Recent history has the home side winning on the previous four occasions with the last away win being Gloucester at the Gardens in 2021.
Referee Adam Leal has refereed Gloucester twice this season, in their 38-22 win over Exeter and 8-5 win over London Irish both at Kingsholm.
Northampton XV: Ramm, Freeman, Dingwall(C), Hutchinson, Collins, Grayson, Braley; A.Waller, R.Smith, Painter, Ribbans, Moon, Coles, Scott-Young, Graham
Substitutes: Cruse, E.Waller, Petch, Salakaia-Loto, Hinkley, Garside, F.Smith, Skosan
Gloucester XV: Evans, May, Harris, Atkinson, Thorley, Carreras, Meehan; Rapava-Ruskin, Blake, Gotovtsev, Clarke, Alemanno, Ackermann, Ludlow(C), Tuisue
Substitutes: Walker, Elrington, Ford-Robinson, Jordan, Clement, Chapman, Twelvetrees, Seabrook
Statistics:
Northampton have won their last 5 home matches in the Premiership.
Gloucester have lost each of their away games since a 21-22 win at London Irish in October.
Ruan Ackermann has made more carries (200) than any other Premiership player this season.
Northampton’s Alex Moon has made more tackles (168) than any other player in the league this season.
Northampton have scored the most points of any team in the Premiership this season, but they have also conceded the most points.
In Comparison, Gloucester have the third best defence in the league.
