Southampton face Watford in their first Premier League clash since the end of the international break.
Southampton face Watford in their first game following the end of the international break, and Mauricio Pellegrino will surely be hoping that the break has done his attacking players some good.
Pellegrino’s appointment would have surely left many supporters hoping that the days of struggling to find the back of the net were over – but unfortunately, the fans have not seen the side look more lethal so far.
Southampton have scored just three goals in their opening four games in all competitions, and all of those goals came in the one game – the 3-2 win over West Ham.
And the south coast side face a Watford team that have done fairly well defensively this term, keeping clean sheets in two of their opening three league games.
With few attacking options to pick from however, it would not be a surprise if Pellegrino keeps faith with the front four of Dusan Tadic, Steven Davis, Nathan Redmond and Manolo Gabbiadini.
The elephant in the room at St Mary’s though is the situation surrounding Virgil van Dijk. The Daily Echo recently confirmed that he has returned to first-team training after being exiled following the transfer request he submitted in the summer.
Having not trained with the rest of the squad that often recently, it may be too soon to expect the Dutchman to come back in against Watford – as a starter anyway – which may leave the path clear for summer signing Wesley Hoedt to make his Saints debut.
But we suspect that may prove to be the one change that Pellegrino makes from the side that drew with Huddersfield at the end of last month…
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