Southampton should return to reliable centre back partnership after Stephens red card

Southampton faced another Premier League defeat, this time conceding three goals in a 3-0 home defeat against Manchester United. While the Saints had a good momentum in the first half an hour in the match, Cameron Archer's missed penalty changed the trajectory of the match with Erik Ten Hag's scoring twice inside five minutes to take a 2-0 lead before half time. In the second half, Russell Martin's side looked lacklustre and didn't create any good chances going forward.

Moreover, the Red Devils took advantage of their two goal lead and started creating much goalscoring chances around the box. Second half substitute Alejandro Garnacho made several advancing runs in the Saints half and that resulted in Southampton captain Jack Stephens making a foul on Garnacho which got him a red card and Russell Martin's side played with ten players inside the final ten minutes of the match. Now, Stephens will face a two match suspension which includes a Carabao Cup third round fixture against Everton and a home matche against Ipswich Town at the St. Mary's Stadium.

Southampton should return to reliable centre back partnership after Stephens red card

Now, manager Russell Martin needs to replace Stephens in the next two matches and can look to bring in Poland international Jan Bednarek, who recently signed his three year Southampton contract. Last season Bednarek and Taylor Harwood-Bellis formed a rock solid defensive partnership in the Championship which helped form a reliable defence towards the end of the season, keeping a clean sheet against Leeds United in the Championship playoffs final as well. Also, Southampton needs to organise their defence well as they couldn't clear the ball on the third goal with Manchester United finding more free spaces inside the Saints half.

The next two games are massively important with manager Russell Martin aiming to find a winning momentum to stay outside the relegation battle towards the end of the season.