There are many parallels between Southampton and Leicester City, the Championship winners, except from the fact that Leicester City has won in the Premier League for the first time. Both teams were demoted from the Premier League for the 2022–2023 season, however they were able to return to the English top division on their first attempt. Additionally, the two teams are currently coached by two promotion-winning managers: Steve Cooper, who led Nottingham Forest to the Premier League in 2022 before joining Leicester City a few months ago, and Russell Martin, who helped the Saints qualify from the Championship playoffs. As a result, even though the game is evenly matched, Leicester City leads the host team by a wide margin. In the timeframe for transfers, Steve Cooper’s team signed a number of players, including Jordan Ayew, Odsonne Edouard, and Facundo Buonanotte, who all have exceptional forward speed, in an effort to increase the speed of their starting lineup. In addition, they acquired the gifted Ghanaian winger Abdul Fatawu Issahaku permanently from Sporting after he had a standout season on loan there.
Russell Martin ought to take note of his prior error when facing Leicester City. Among Fatawu Issahaku’s outstanding performances was a stunning hat-trick against the Saints, where he effortlessly opened space behind the Southampton defence and showed off his playmaking skills down the right-flank. In a convincing 5-0 victory for Leicester City, Fatawu Issahaku not only scored three goals but also provided an assist. It is quite possible that Steve Cooper will start the 20-year-old again against Southampton. Southampton’s lineup lacks the kind of explosive pace that the opposition possesses, thus they will also need to play this game with three centre backs.
Having seen Fatawu Issahaku’s advantages down the right flank, manager Russell Martin ought to once more pair Kyle Walker-Peters with Ryan Manning on the left side of defence. Walker-Peters should be tasked with marking the 20-year-old and preventing him from entering the box because of his quick recovery rate. Additionally, Ryan Manning is capable of making a few smart interceptions to gain possession of the ball before starting the build-up play with a long through-pass into the midfield.
Walker-Peters can play as a good centre-back as well, as he demonstrated against Arsenal, thus the two defenders should frequently exchange places during the game. When playing against Jamie Vardy, a prolific striker in the Premier League, Jan Bednarek will have another defensive partner thanks to these strategies. Vardy has been the leader of Leicester City’s front three for a number of years; therefore, Southampton’s prospects of winning the Premier League will enhance if they can prevent Vardy from scoring.
It is now unclear if manager Russell Martin would use a different tactical configuration against Leicester City or stick with the three centre-back system.