Southampton have started the new Championship season well. Without their 4-point deduction, they’d be 4th in the league after four games.
The Saints have picked up seven points from a possible twelve so far. Against the same opponents of Watford, Stoke City, Millwall and Birmingham City last campaign, they took just three from the same fixtures. It’s a vast improvement.
Now a trip to Sincil Bank Stadium awaits. Lincoln City and Southampton haven’t been in the same division since the 1960s.
The Imps will be hoping for an upset, but it’s a chance for Tonda Eckert’s Saints to really click into gear.
Tough opponents
Last season’s League One winners, Lincoln City, will prove a decent opponent for Southampton.
The Imps won the third tier of English football with one of the lowest budgets, and under Michael Skubala had the lowest average possession in the league. It didn’t matter to them.
Skubala, an ex-PE teacher, has now left Lincoln for Bristol City. The Imps have made a bizarre move in replacing the Robins boss with co-head coaches in Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw.
They’ve started the season well considering their finances and odds, and sit one place above Southampton in 17th, winning one and drawing another of their games.
The home side will be hoping to cause a significant upset on Saturday lunchtime.
A chance to get on a roll
Southampton will enter the kind of form needed for automatic promotion should they beat Lincoln City. After winning two and drawing one of their matches, taking seven points, the Saints will have a points-per-game average of 2.0 after five outings if they win.
It’s a great chance for them to make a claim as one of the sides to beat, even if they won’t have a table-topping position in the league just yet.
Tonda Eckert’s side will be hoping to tense their muscles as one of the strongest squads in the division on Saturday too. In the first Championship double gameweek of the season, rotation in certain areas of the team could be as useful as it proved to be last campaign.
The likes of Divin Mubama, Lewis Dobbin and James Ward-Prowse, as well as new signing Zach Abbott, could all be put to good use in a game they should be targeting to win.
Three points could bring Southampton in with a shout of the play-off spots after just a few gameweeks. It would be a brilliant start to a campaign where they started so behind everybody else.
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