Southampton: The stats that sum up Saints’ brilliant Premier League start

Southampton's Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhuttl smiles before the English Premier League football match between Aston Villa and Southampton at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on November 1, 2020. (Photo by Nick Potts / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by NICK POTTS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Southampton's Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhuttl smiles before the English Premier League football match between Aston Villa and Southampton at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on November 1, 2020. (Photo by Nick Potts / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by NICK POTTS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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The perfect midfield pairing

If there was one key area that Saints could not do without, it is the centre of midfield.

Via fbref.com again, we can see that they press heavily in central areas of the pitch – 530 of their pressures of the ball have come in the central third of the pitch and this is the third highest total in the top-flight this campaign.

They have also won the highest amount of tackles in the middle third of the pitch with 78 so far and this is mainly down to the pairing of James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu.

Romeu leads the Premier League standings for tackles made whilst both players have combined to make 63 tackles and interceptions between them.

Ward-Prowse’s set-pieces have also been used to Saints’ advantage this season, with one assist and two goals from his free-kicks at Aston Villa.