£15 million Southampton mainstay should be dropped against Stoke City

Southampton signed 25-year-old midfielder Flynn Downes from Premier League side West Ham on an initial loan-move last season as they prepared for their 2023/24 Championship campaign. Downes was brought in as star midfielder James Ward-Prowse's replacement, who bid farewell to the Saints after twenty years at the club to join West Ham in a £30 million transfer move.

Playing in the middle of the park alongside Joe Aribo and Will Smallbone, Downes was an integral part of the Southampton squad that achieved Premier League promotion under manager Russell Martin. Downes is a calm and composed box-to-box midfielder who oozes quality with his wide range of passing and game awareness.

£15 million Southampton mainstay should be dropped against Stoke City

His impressive debut season at the St. Mary's Stadium led Southampton to sign him on a permanent basis for £15 million from West Ham in the transfer window. In this ongoing Premier League season, Downes is among the most consistent performers in Russell Martin's side and even captained the Saints in the absence of former captain Jack Stephens.

However, Downes has received a number of yellow-cards as well in the Premier League, with the recent yellow-card against Manchester City taking his total to 4 after nine matches. If Downes gets one more yellow-card against Stoke City, the 25-year-old will miss the important home fixture against Everton next week. Moreover, if Downes picks up a yellow-card against Everton, the midfielder won't be available to face nineteenth-placed Wolves in another huge away match.

Thus, manager Russell Martin should consider dropping the all-round midfielder in one of the next few matches. Sean Dyche's Everton are unbeaten in the previous five matches since they were defeated by Southampton in the Carabao Cup on penalties, thus, Martin would want to start a regular first-team star such as Downes in that match to aim for taking a first Premier League win.

Hence, the Stoke City match is a good opportunity where Martin can give a chance to other midfielders in place of Downes to avoid the chances of Downes getting a one-match suspension for the Everton game. Also, more lineup changes are expected in the Stoke City match and it remains to be seen whether Southampton can take a huge momentum boost from this Carabao cup match to take a good result against Everton and Wolves in the next Premier League matches.