Crystal Palace vs Southampton: Where the game will be won and lost

James Ward-Prowse avoiding an early yellow card

Under previous managers, Southampton academy graduate Ward-Prowse could have been accused of avoiding a crunching challenge – not anymore.

When Ralph Hasenhuttl replaced Mark Hughes over a year ago, it seemed to those outside of the club that the Englishman had been handed an ultimatum by the Austrian, either get stuck in or sit on the bench – especially after being left out of the squad entirely when the Saints travelled up to Huddersfield just before Christmas in 2018.

Despite his complete omission on that occasion, and only being able to make a spot on the bench the match after, the 25-year-old started against Manchester City just eight days after the away trip to the Terriers, and has been a main-stay in Hasenhuttls side ever since.

Ward-Prowse, who has previously acknowledged that the former RB Leipzig boss had “saved” his career at Southampton,  has not missed a minute of action so far this season and has played a key role in the Saints midfield.

In his last four matches prior to the Saints 3-2 loss at home to Wolves, the Englishman averaged 6.5 tackles in his previous four games – higher than anyone else in the squad.

Regardless of how impressive the statistics look on paper, his combative nature does not come without an element of risk. The midfielder’s aggression in the challenge often lands him a yellow card, with an early booking forcing him to change the way he plays.

This was seen aginst Wolverhampton Wanders. After two fouls early in the first half, Ward-Prowse found himself in the book after just 29 minutes (his second earliest booking of the season). As a result, the England international was forced to be more hesitant when going in for the tackle, and could not break up the play as effectively as a result of another miss-timed challenge likely to have been given another caution.

This hampered the Saints, with Ward-Prowse completing just three tackles in the 90 minutes, 3.5 less than what he had averaged in the four games before that. This allowed the Midlands side to progress the ball through the midfield much faster, giving them the opportunity to keep the ball higher up the pitch and commit more men forward without the worry of being countered as often.

With the history between Ward-Prowse and Wilfred Zaha, it is crucial that the Southampton midfielder is able to keep his head and not be tempted into a risky tackle early on, as it could sway the match into the Eagles favor.