I know it was only the Carabao Cup, when teams tend to field a weakened side, but we beat them 4-1 back in August, so I’m hoping for more of the same in this encounter.
I think this will be our biggest test so far. I've yet to feel a team was better than us, even those that beat us, and if we can better Southampton then I am not sure who would look be our main threat.
Would rather start Pablo up top. Don't rate Taty much, he doesn't score enough and does not press enough to make him any better than Pablo, at least Pablo presses even if he cannot score
I do rate Taty, he has scored a few for us & has undoubted quality, but he needs a partner & the team playing well to be fully effective
Him & Piroe up top are probably our best pairing but we need the midfield to be on it & dominating the game
Pablo makes games scrappy, Taty makes games technical, Piroe makes games clinical, but we can’t seem to get the right combo on the pitch for the right game (Wrexham aside)
His being busy has a purpose. He’s constantly pressing or pulling defenders out of position giving other players more room and chances they’d otherwise have.
It's a huge puzzle for me as it is undeniable that he does something for the team and yet he is so useless when on the ball and you expect nothing. It's hard to see how he had risen to being a Premier league player with such very basic ability on the ball.
The question arises each match of do we take what Pablo gives or utilise an actual footballer?
He does seem to be effective on the pitch but I wonder how that manifests itself in training, I would have thought his poor first touch and inability to control the ball would be clear to see yet he gets selected.
To be fair I thought he did a decent job up top on his own as his industry carried the day
His being busy has a purpose. He’s constantly pressing or pulling defenders out of position giving other players more room and chances they’d otherwise have.
Plus, his pass for Kante to set up the only goal of the game.
The guy is an enigma, but happily for us, a very good one
Pablo has a smart football brain, but the message doesn’t often reach his feet,…but of the three, he’s currently our best performing centre forward IMO.
I know it was only the Carabao Cup, when teams tend to field a weakened side, but we beat them 4-1 back in August, so I’m hoping for more of the same in this encounter.
Saints made five changes to the squad that beat Stoke the weekend before we played but four of those came on in the 2nd half
Canadian CF Cyle Larin was on the bench back in August, now 2nd top scorer in the Championship with 7. On Saturday he was subbed before half time with a leg problem but no word how bad it was
Divin Mubuma started up front in the Carabao but he was left on the bench against Bolton with Lewis Dobbin preferred as Larin's reaplcement
Other regular starters on the bench in August were Irish AM/LW/RW Finn Azaz, 5 assists and 3 goals, LB Ryan Manning, Japanese CM/RW Kuryu Matsuki who got his first two caps during the international break and Flynn Downes
Downes is currently top of the Championship for tackles per game but was out at the weekend with an ankle injury, chances of him being available are "possible but ambitious". Academy graduate 21yo Cameron Bragg started on Saturday alongside is our old mate James Ward-Prowse who has started the last seven
Another addition since we played is CB Keven Schlotterbeck (£3m Augsburg) who has started nine in a row
I know it was only the Carabao Cup, when teams tend to field a weakened side, but we beat them 4-1 back in August, so I’m hoping for more of the same in this encounter.
Saints made five changes to the squad that beat Stoke the weekend before we played but four of those came on in the 2nd half
We made 8 changes to the starting XI of the team who played Charlton on the previous weekend, with 4 coming on as subs.
Amazing that we have scored 30 goals in the League so far and Taty has only scored 1 and Pablo has only scored 2.
I believe Bowen has only scored 6 himself and is our top scorer in the league. That just shows how well placed we are not to be reliant ona single player.
Flynn Downes hasn't been seen at training this week but they do have another option in midfield
23yo DM Caspar Jander, joined last summer from FC Nuremburg for £10.4m, 38 starts out of 43 appearances last season, was part of the German squad that lost in the 2025 U21 Euros final to England
Suffered a hamstring before the pre-season but has been on the bench for the last three games.
Solid tackler and good passer. Saints fans rate him
Alvarez, Cornet & Magassa all training with the squad again this week - surely we have to get them involved at some point given their wages, even if they all leave in January
Comments
Veltman - Mavropanos - Kilman - Morato
Engels - Mukasa
Bowen - Kanté - Austbø
Piroe
Areola, Golambeckis, Walker-Peters, Scarles, Orford, Souček, Solomon, Pablo, Taty
Him & Piroe up top are probably our best pairing but we need the midfield to be on it & dominating the game
Pablo makes games scrappy, Taty makes games technical, Piroe makes games clinical, but we can’t seem to get the right combo on the pitch for the right game (Wrexham aside)
The question arises each match of do we take what Pablo gives or utilise an actual footballer?
To be fair I thought he did a decent job up top on his own as his industry carried the day
The guy is an enigma, but happily for us, a very good one
Canadian CF Cyle Larin was on the bench back in August, now 2nd top scorer in the Championship with 7. On Saturday he was subbed before half time with a leg problem but no word how bad it was
Divin Mubuma started up front in the Carabao but he was left on the bench against Bolton with Lewis Dobbin preferred as Larin's reaplcement
Other regular starters on the bench in August were Irish AM/LW/RW Finn Azaz, 5 assists and 3 goals, LB Ryan Manning, Japanese CM/RW Kuryu Matsuki who got his first two caps during the international break and Flynn Downes
Downes is currently top of the Championship for tackles per game but was out at the weekend with an ankle injury, chances of him being available are "possible but ambitious". Academy graduate 21yo Cameron Bragg started on Saturday alongside is our old mate James Ward-Prowse who has started the last seven
Another addition since we played is CB Keven Schlotterbeck (£3m Augsburg) who has started nine in a row
He's doing his own job (sort of) and Taty's ! That Taty should be giving him half his wages.
They must be worried about trips to WBA, Wolves and us
It was also their 3rd clean sheet in a row having conceded every match before that
They tend to play down the left with LB Ryan Manning and LW Leo Scienza the main threats
Veltman rather than Walker-Peters
23yo DM Caspar Jander, joined last summer from FC Nuremburg for £10.4m, 38 starts out of 43 appearances last season, was part of the German squad that lost in the 2025 U21 Euros final to England
Suffered a hamstring before the pre-season but has been on the bench for the last three games.
Solid tackler and good passer. Saints fans rate him