Southampton Season Preview
Compared to last summer, Southampton should feel like they haven’t lost anyone this year. Twelve months after their wholesale, the Saints seem in prime position to once again compete for a top seven spot and they’ve already started dominating opponents in the Europa League. It’s hard to describe the effect Ronald Koeman has had on this club, especially after inheriting a club that sold half of its starters last season. The manager has done a fantastic job of rebuilding the squad, finding bargain players that Southampton is so well known for, and developing the club’s youngsters to become first team players. Koeman led the Saints to the seventh spot in the Premier League last season and allowed only 33 goals last season, second behind only Chelsea! It’ll be hard to reproduce the same results after losing Toby Alderweireld and Nathaniel Clyne, but the Saints have enough quality to still be very solid on defense. Let’s take a look at their squad with a bit more detail.
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Goalkeeper
The fantastic Fraser Forster is injured and could miss the majority of the season. This is a huge loss for the Saints and they’ve signed Maarten Stekelenburg on loan to fill in for the meantime. Stekelenburg is nowhere close to Forster’s quality and there will be obvious drop-off in quality at the position this season, but Saints know the importance of letting a player heal properly and there is little doubt in my mind they are not going to rush Forster back. Despite being not as good, Stekelenburg is capable to play in the Premier League and should provide good fantasy value behind a solid defense. As of right now, Paulo Gazzaniga seems to be the number two choice should something happen to Stekelenburg.
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Defense
With the loss of Toby Alderweireld and Nathaniel Clyne, there is obvious concern here for the Saints. Alderweireld was a beast of a defender for them last season and he’ll surely be missed, but Maya Yoshida is not to be underestimated. Yoshida is a consistent center-back who can also get forward and score goals on set-pieces, and he has a good chemistry with team captain Jose Fonte. Fonte, their best defender, is still there and ready to lead the team once again. He is also a good fantasy option for leagues who reward players for defensive stats. Ryan Bertrand will continue to be dangerous down the left-flank and newcomer Cedric Soares should be a capable replacement for Nathaniel Clyne. The Saints also added Steven Caulker, who should provide them with good cover at center-back and may even push Yoshida to the bench after a few weeks. That’s certainly an interesting situation to keep an eye on, especially for fantasy purposes. Yoshida is 4.5m in the premierleague.com game and would be a great option if he can keep the starting role, but he certainly carries a risk.
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Midfield
Losing Morgan Schneiderlin certainly hurts Southampton, but a part of the money from the Schneiderlin deal was used to bring in Jordy Clasie. Clasie is a very similar player to Schneiderlin who cost the Saints just $17 million in his move from Feyenoord. Clasie is not a fantasy points magnet by any means, especially since he has a tendency to pick up yellow cards, but he does all the dirty work in midfield and will slot into Schneiderlin’s role without any trouble. The Saints also missed defensive specialist Victor Wanyama for several games last season and saw him lack match fitness for a big part of the season while he was dealing with injuries. Wanyama looks fully healthy now and should help strengthen the midfield.
In attack, the team looks even stronger than last year. Dusan Tadic, Sadio Mane, and James Ward-Prowse are all returning to the attacking midfield and Jay Rodriguez has looked great in pre-season after missing all of last year with a knee injury. Rodriguez will certainly get playing time as the season begins, although he will likely start from the bench at first as the team gets him up to full match fitness.
Forwards
Graziano Pelle suffered a long drought after starting his Premier League experience on fire last season but he seems to have gained some of his confidence again this pre-season and looks primed for another good season. Despite his drought last year, he still finished fourth in fantasy scoring amongst forwards in the premierleague.com game. With Jay Rodriguez back and the Mane/Tadic duo having more experience together, Pelle’s service will only get better. If he doesn’t lack confidence, he will not lack goals either, and I really like him in fantasy this season.
Shane Long has also looked good early on and is bound for playing time. Long has the opportunity to start on the wing while Rodriguez is still getting fit and can produce good value at his price. What worries me with Southampton’s attacking midfielder and forward spots is the rotation that Ronald Koeman will have considering the club are likely playing in the Europa League group stages this season. For that purpose, I’d be weary of drafting anyone outside of Mane and Pelle in season-long leagues, but I love almost everyone on that team for DFS purposes.
Best Starting XI
With Jay Rodriguez and Ryan Bertrand still recovering, this isn’t likely to be the Saints’ week one starting lineup but it is probably their best and most likely starting eleven in about a month from now. The Maya Yoshida/Steven Caulker competition could also provide a change there, but otherwise, this should be Southampton’s best lineup this season.
Can Ronald Koeman lead Southampton to a top six spot in his second year in charge? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
