Southampton will feel lucky that they managed to escape the dreaded clutches of relegation by the skin of their teeth in the last campaign. But, having made a number of changes so far this summer, things are beginning to look up for the Saints.
The Saints will struggle to do worse than last season as they found it impossible to ensure consistency under Mauricio Pellegrino at St Mary’s. Indeed, with a short period of time left before the start of the new campaign, Mark Hughes will be desperate for his side to gain some momentum.
Next up for Southampton is a game with Spanish side Celta Vigo. It will be very interesting to see how the Saints perform against a side on a similar level to them, after tasting victory in their last outing. Importantly, Hughes’ side will need to keep the ball and make use of the space.
So, having taken Hughes’ selection from the last game into consideration, we’ve come up with a team that we think the Welshman could line up with against Celta Vigo.
Click through to the next page to see the entire potential team in FULL…
SOUTHAMPTON’S POTENTIAL TEAM VS CELTA VIGO
We’ve gone with a 3-5-2 formation, as that is the formation that Hughes should look to make use of against a strong Spanish side. This allows the Saints to make use of their wing-backs who love to get forward and contribute in the final third, with two strikers up front hopefully curing Southampton’s goalscoring woes from last season.
The Saints will look to bring Angus Gunn into the starting lineup to give him a chance to showcase his talents before the start of the new campaign.
In defence, Wesley Hoedt, Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek will form the Saints’ back line, with three central defenders hopefully ensuring defensive solidity.
Matt Targett and Ryan Bertrand will line up on either side of the defence in the wing-back position, offering support to the strikers by piling balls into the box. Meanwhile, summer signing Stuart Armstrong will be looking to impress once again as he pushes for a starting place in the new campaign, while the ever-reliable Steven Davis and Pierre-Emile Hojberg line up alongside him.
Southampton struggled to find the back of the net for large parts of the last campaign, so they’ll be desperate to get the best out of Mohamed Elyounoussi who signed earlier on this summer. Also, Manolo Gabbiadini will partner the forward at the pinnacle of the attack after scoring last time out.
Southampton fans – Thoughts?
Let us know down below!!!
