This weekend Southampton host the Foxes at St. Mary’s, and should hand a first start of the season to Italian forward Manolo Gabbiadini.
The 26-year-old has twice come off the bench so far this campaign for the Saints, playing just 36 minutes collectively and struggling to make an impact.
However his teammate Charlie Austin has also failed to hit the ground running despite starting against both Burnley and Everton, and the Saints should now rotate and give Gabbiadini a chance.
Last season was disappointing for the ex-Napoli man as despite some important goals including THAT one against Swansea, he found the back of the net as many times in his first full campaign as he did in the three months he played at the tail end of the 2016/17 season.
Despite this there’s no denying his talent, and working alongside a sharp, pacey forward like Danny Ings could elevate the Italian’s game.
Despite an impressive finishing ability and one hell of a left foot, Gabbiadini struggles when he has to lead the line solo, as he’s more of a technical player or a second-striker – he’s better when he can work off of another forward.
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With Ings, Southampton have that kind of pacey, hard-working nuisance of a striker that we have in Shane Long, with the welcome addition of better finishing.
The Liverpool-loanee’s desire to get in behind and to exploit space could work brilliantly alongside Gabbiadini, who is composed on the ball and likes to make darting runs into space vacated by other teammates.
Under Claude Puel, Leicester have assembled a defence with plenty of pace, with Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira sitting either side of Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire. Whilst Austin’s ability as a poacher is unquestionable, Ings should have a lot more luck against that back four and the man to supply him is Gabbiadini.
If Mark Hughes insists on sticking with the 4-4-2 we have seen since the second-half against Burnley, the Saints will need someone to be able to connect the centre-midfielders with the striker – Gabbiadini will provide that link by being able to drop deep and sit being Ings for periods of the game.
Southampton really don’t want to make three games without a win to start the season and therefore they need a positive result against the Foxes this weekend. To do so, they need to start Gabbi alongside Ings.