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Southampton vs Leicester City: The Best XI

By Aaron Preston

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 03: Jordy Clasie of Southampton in action with Daniel Drinkwater and Shinji Okazaki of Leicester City during the Barclays Premier League match between Leicester City and Southampton at The King Power Stadium on April 3, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 03: Jordy Clasie of Southampton in action with Daniel Drinkwater and Shinji Okazaki of Leicester City during the Barclays Premier League match between Leicester City and Southampton at The King Power Stadium on April 3, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
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LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Diodo Jota of FC Porto and Daniel Drinkwater of Leicester City during the UEFA Champions League match between Leicester City FC and FC Porto at The King Power Stadium on September 27, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Diodo Jota of FC Porto and Daniel Drinkwater of Leicester City during the UEFA Champions League match between Leicester City FC and FC Porto at The King Power Stadium on September 27, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images) /

Danny Drinkwater

It would be remiss if not downright criminal to leave Drinkwater out of any combined XI involving Leicester. The 26 year old midfielder was absolutely critical to the Foxes’ success last year, with his long balls picking out Jamie Vardy on counterattacks. The fact that he was left off the England squad for Euro 2016 was frankly shameful; one imagines he and Vardy linking up could’ve given the Three Lions a better result.

Drinkwater’s notched one assist so far this year, not quite on pace to match his 3 goal, 8 assist campaign of last season but still respectable. He’s the kind of player that’s an absolute dynamo in midfield and one you’ll want to keep your eye on hard if you’re a Saints player; give him room and he’ll punish you with it.

Related Story: Watch Online: Leicester vs Southampton

Oriol Romeu

In consideration of defensive mids, it’s a tossup between Leicester’s Nampalys Mendy and Southampton’s Oriol Romeu. Romeu’s grown into the role well since the start of the season, whereas Mendy seems to have hit the ground running this year. There’s well and truly not much to separate them.

What does it for Romeu for me, in the end, is physicality. Romeu has a few inches and a ton of weight on the smaller, nimbler Frenchman. Small and nimble works well for a technically-gifted defensive mid like Mendy but I prefer my DMs to be of the Wanyama type: big, hulking enforcers who’ll put you to the turf if you give them a chance. That’s all Romeu, all day. That plus his fledgling abilities in getting forward of late give him the nod this time out.

As we turn for home, Southampton still have a slim lead, 5-4.