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Saints, Reds and Devils
Two short months ago Southampton were on the brink of the unknown. Their star manager, their star forward, their best young player and their captain had all jumped ship for bigger, supposedly better clubs.
In their place came a host of unknown stars from the Dutch and other European leagues, as well as a manager, Ronald Koeman, who whilst had pedigree, was unproven in the Premier league.
Fast forward to the present and the Saints are sitting second in the table, while those stars of season’s past are struggling to their make their mark. Tougher tasks lie ahead for Southampton but now they can bask in their early season glory.
Key to their success has been the form of Graziano Pellè. Three goals, one assist and two Man of the Match awards have got the rest of the league taking note. The former Feyenoord man is even being tipped for an international call up with Italy at the age of 29.
This weekend, the Saints face QPR at home with Pellè a good bet to add to his tally. Harry Redknapp’s side have conceded four goals against both United and Spurs and with Pellè averaging 3.8 shots a game, not to mention 1.2 key passes if Southampton do score, he is likely to be involved.
Liverpool benefitted more than any club from the asset strip-down that occurred at St. Mary’s with Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert making the trip up north.
The trio have yet to make the desired impact with Lallana only back after injury, Lambert failing to make a league start and Lovren yet to dominate in defence as he did to such good effect last season.
While two of those three are expected to be involved this weekend against Everton, they will have some way to go before they can match the status that Daniel Sturridge has acquired at Anfield.
The Reds have missed the England man in recent weeks, especially against West Ham last weekend where, for all their huffing and puffing, they failed to really trouble Hammers keeper, Adrián.
His replacement, Mario Balotelli, has struggled without a strike partner, but with Sturridge expected back on Saturday, he will hope to add to his winner against Southampton on the opening day of the season.
Sturridge offers the Reds plenty in attack; 4.3 shots a game, one key pass and 2.3 dribbles on average in fact, and with him in attack, Liverpool will be more confident reverting back to their consistent end-of-season form.
While Sturridge has emerged as a key man for Liverpool in the last 20 months, Angel di Maria has acquired the very same status in just three games.
While his incredible lob against Leicester was ultimately in vain, as the club handed out a reminder that they were far from the finished product in a 5-3 loss to the Foxes, Di Maria showed his newfound worth. Three Premier League games, two goals and two assists with three key passes, 2.7 dribbles a game and a 77.9% pass success rate – it’s fair to say he has hit the ground running.
Whilst United appeared more comfortable on the road last term as the weight of expectation cast a big shadow over David Moyes, this time round they appear set to enjoy the settings of Old Trafford.
Last time out they hit QPR for four and they will expect to score goals again against West Ham. If they do, expect Di Maria to be involved.
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