Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The first of our Super Sunday triple header takes us to the South Coast as Southampton play host to champions Leicester this Lunchtime with Claude Puel’s side looking to put an end to a run of results which has seen The Saints their last 4 league matches.
That run of results has seen Southampton slip to 13th in the table and even a win today will fail to see them return to the top half. After being as high as 8th then you would have to consider that quite the collapse as a lack of goals is making life hard for them right now.
They go into this game as the league’s second lowest scorers with just 19 goals to their name, a ratio of less than 1 per game on average. Thankfully their defensive record has not been all that bad but has obviously worsened since those 4 defeats.
And it’s a defence which has said goodbye to former captain Jose Fonte after his move to West Ham earlier in the week. With Fonte refusing to sign a new contract he has recently been kept away from first team action, how much the off the pitch goings on have had an effect on the teams results can be argued but they showed no signs of detriment in their EFL Cup Semi-Final 1st leg win over Liverpool last week.
So the dip in league form must be of some concern to Southampton fans, but as in Football life goes on and they start a new era Today without Jose Fonte as they play host to Leicester team who are in even more of a precarious position as they continue to look over their shoulder.
There is still a relatively decent gap between themselves and the bottom three with that gap being 5 points but with just 1 win in their last 6 matches, Claudio Ranieri’s side can ill afford to carry on that kind of form going into the rest of the season.
Last time out they were well disposed by a Chelsea side without Diego Costa as the league leaders cruised to a 3-0 victory at The King Power Stadium. Ranieri said after the game that his team had played well but obviously nowhere near well enough as they came away empty handed.
In terms of the league campaign it’s almost a write off now for Leicester with the simple objective being just stay up and let’s see how far we can get in the Champions League. Perhaps they’ve earned the right in which to do so after the magnificent title win last season, but there defence of the title has been non existent.
It’s a side that has looked jaded after those incredible performances of 12 months ago and any new additions to the squad have failed to make their mark since joining the champions. The latest arrival Wilfrid Ndidi made his debut last Saturday and the hope will be that he can show his worth this afternoon.
Neither side is in great form especially Southampton but Leicester are still yet to win on the road in the league this season so it does not point to a game that is going to excite all that much. With The Foxes aversion to away wins it may just help The Saints, that said they lack a real goal threat. Therefore I’m going to go with honours in the first game of the day, A draw for me.
