Southampton forward substituted inside first half in the international break

In this international break, ten Southampton players have represented their national teams in the UEFA Nations League as well as the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers in the last two weeks. While some players like Republic of Ireland star Will Smallbone and Northern Ireland midfielder Shea Charles have had great performances, a few Saints stars have struggled in the international matches. Recently, Chile played Bolivia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and new Southampton star Ben Brereton Diaz started for Chile as the centre forward. 

However, Chile manager Ricardo Gareca took a surprising decision to substitute the former Blackburn Rovers star inside the first half, increasing speculations of Diaz picking up an injury in the match. However, that isn't the case and the forward will play in the upcoming matches for Southampton in the Premier League. In the first half, Diaz had an underwhelming performance with the 26-year-old striker having no attempts on goal alongside giving away the ball possession five times. 

Southampton forward substituted inside first half in the international break

Further, Bolivia took an early 1-0 lead and Chile were struggling to advance inside the final third in order to try and score the equaliser. Therefore, it was a sporting decision instead to bring Vicente Pizarro in place of Diaz, who had one attempt on goal and made a key pass as well. Although Chile scored in the second half to level the score at 1-1, Bolivia scored again to register a massive 2-1 win over Chile, who have faced back to back defeats in this international break. 

This hasn't been a great start to the new season for Ben Brereton Diaz with both club and country, as he again struggled to create much goal scoring chances in the match. Recently, Villarreal's CEO revealed the reason for Diaz's struggles in La Liga last season, since joining Villarreal on a free transfer in 2023. Hence, Diaz needs a great momentum to find his prolific form which made him a top quality striker while playing for Blackburn in the Championship a few seasons ago. 

Cameron Archer is highly likely to start in the Manchester United match in place of Diaz, who has played two international matches in the last week. Now, it remains to be seen who will start in the attack for Russell Martin's side, who have scored only one goal in the first three Premier League matches.