Russell Martin should learn from previous mistake against Leicester City

Apart from the fact that Leicester City have taken their first win in the Premier League, there are a lot of similarities between the Championship winners and Southampton. In the 2022/23 season, both sides were relegated from the Premier League and successfully managed to achieve promotion back to the English top flight at the first attempt itself. Further, the two teams are currently managed by two promotion winning managers with Russell Martin having guided the Saints to qualification from the Championship playoffs, and Steve Cooper, who led Nottingham Forest to the Premier League in 2022 before joining Leicester City a few months ago.

Thus, the match is well-balanced, still Leicester City have a significant advantage over the home side. During the transfer window, Steve Cooper's side focused on adding more pace to their starting lineup and therefore, signed several players such as Facundo Buonanotte, Jordan Ayew and Odsonne Edouard, who possess incredible pace going forward. Moreover, they signed talented Ghana winger, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku on a permanent basis from Sporting, following an impressive season on-loan at the club.

Russell Martin should learn from previous mistake against Leicester City

Fatawu Issahaku's brilliant performances included a memorable hat-trick against the Saints, where he displayed his playmaking down the right-flank and constantly created space behind the Southampton defence with ease. Alongside scoring three goals, Fatawu Issahaku also registered an assist in a comfortable 5-0 win for Leicester City, and Steve Cooper would highly likely start the 20-year-old again in the Southampton match. Compared to the visitors, Southampton doesn't possess much blistering pace in their lineup and thus, would have to return to their three centre-back formation in this match as well.

Manager Russell Martin saw Fatawu Issahaku's strengths down the right flank and should play Kyle Walker-Peters alongside Ryan Manning again on the left side of the defence. Walker-Peters has good recovery pace and thus, should be given the role of marking the 20-year-old and keeping him away from entering the box. Further, Ryan Manning can make some good interceptions to win the ball possession before making a long through-ball towards the midfield to start the build up play.

Moreover, the two defenders should often switch their positions during the match, as Walker-Peters can play as a good centre-back as well as was evident against Arsenal. These tactics will provide Jan Bednarek an another defensive partner while facing prolific Premier League striker Jamie Vardy. Vardy has been leading Leicester City's front three over the years and thus, if Southampton manage to deny Vardy from scoring, it will increase their chances of securing a first Premier League win.

Now, it remains to be seen whether manager Russell Martin plays the three centre-back formation again or implements a different tactical setup against Leicester City.