Recently, Southampton manager Russell Martin discussed Leicester City's tactical changes under their new manager Steve Cooper. While Cooper has kept a similar formation at Leicester City, as was under their former manager Enzo Maresca, the former Nottingham Forest manager implements a more counter-attacking style of football. Thus, Southampton can take advantage of that if they manage to successfully keep a clean-sheet against quality forwards such as Jamie Vardy, Stephy Mavididi and Facundo Buonanotte.
Hence, Leicester City manager Steve Cooper analysed the Southampton match as a more balanced game despite them taking a first Premier League win two weeks ago.
"We’ve got such a good opportunity this weekend to continue our progress and build momentum. We’re really motivated now to go to Southampton and try and pick up where we left off.Steve Cooper
None of these Premier League games are straightforward, we’ve seen that in the ones we’ve played."
Leicester City manager analyses Southampton match as a balanced game
Cooper highlighted Leicester City's struggling draws against Tottenham Hotspurs and Crystal Palace, and hence, would want his side to keep their consistency throughout the match. Moreover, Cooper has experienced the challenges of taking a win against another newly promoted side during his stay at Nottingham Forest, and thus, wants his team to continue building their good momentum.
On the other hand, Southampton need to make sure that they don't repeat their previous mistakes against the Championship winners. Further, Russell Martin's side shouldn't make any defensive mistakes, as they have conceded nearly half of the goals while giving away possession inside the box. Although this is only the eighth matchday, Southampton need to take an important win in front of their fans to stay away from the relegation zone at the beginning of the season.
Now, it remains to be seen how much progress Southampton have made in their overall performance during this two-week long international break.