With another 3-1 away defeat against Arsenal last week, Southampton have now gone twenty games without taking a win in the Premier League. The Saints last won a Premier League fixture against Leicester City two seasons ago, in a 1-0 home win before the two sides got relegated towards the end of that 2022/23 season. Surprisingly, Southampton are set to face fellow promoted side Leicester City in the upcoming eighth matchday and will aim to end that winless run against the same club.
This is Southampton's fourth home fixture this season, and Russell Martin's side will want to go one better than the previous home match and take a much needed Premier League win. The Saints hosted another newly promoted side Ipswich Town at the St. Mary's Stadium last month, and came very close to securing their first three points of the season, but Sam Morsy's last-minute equaliser led Russell Martin's side to settle for a draw instead. Hence, the next match against Steve Cooper's side becomes massively important as a win could provide a huge boost while another winless result will increase the chances of a managerial change at the club.
Can Southampton end their twenty-game winless streak against Leicester City
While Leicester City have scored in all seven of their league matches, the visitors have also conceded a staggering 12 goals from the first seven matches. Moreover, Steve Cooper's side have only managed one draw from their three away fixtures, where they conceded twice in the second half against Crystal Palace and the match resulted in a 2-2 draw. Therefore, the Saints know their priorities which is to form a rock-solid defence throughout the match to deny Leicester City from scoring.
While the previous 3-1 defeat against Arsenal was a good defensive display from Russell Martin's side around the hour mark, the Saints couldn't maintain their defensive solidity after Kai Havertz's equaliser. Further, Leicester City are also a similar goalscoring side like Arsenal, having a star studded front three of Jamie Vardy, Stephy Mavididi and Facundo Buonanotte.
Therefore, Southampton need to keep Leicester City from scoring for the large part of the match, which would allow them to have more calm and composure in the attack to take an important lead themselves. While, there aren't much lineup changes expected, it remains to be seen whether 18-year-old Southampton prodigy Tyler Dibling features in this match after pulling-out from the England U19 team during the international break.