We’re looking at Southampton’s midfielders and forwards from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective in this latest article, including Ben Brereton Diaz (£5.5m) and Adam Armstrong (£5.5m).
In this piece, guest writer FPL Bluebird will discuss the Saints as an attacking force and identify their best FPL assets.
A profile of manager Russell Martin and a round-up of Southampton’s defensive options preceded this piece.
To provide a fan’s view, we’ve got insight from Fantasy Football Scout user The Naga Khan.
The stats in this piece are taken from WhoScored, FotMob, Opta Analyst and FBref.
WHAT IS SOUTHAMPTON’S GOALSCORING POTENTIAL IN FPL?
| W | D | L | F | A | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 26 | 9 | 11 | 87 | 63 | 87 |
| Home | 15 | 3 | 5 | 54 | 29 | 48 |
| Away | 11 | 6 | 6 | 33 | 34 | 39 |
Where the defence struggled during their successful promotion campaign, the same cannot be said about the St Mary’s side as an attacking force. Their possession-based game provided plenty of opportunities for the strike force to deliver. The Saints scored the highest number of goals from open play (66). Some may argue that their defence suffered as a consequence of their attacking intent.
Southampton arrive in the Premier League after scoring the third-highest number of Championship goals (87). Just two behind champions Leicester City and five behind the runners-up, Ipswich Town. Their other attacking metrics are impressive. It should provide plenty of encouragement to suggest that they are capable of breaking down well-drilled Premier League defences.
| Metric | Total | Championship rank |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 87 | 3rd |
| Goals from open play | 66 | 1st |
| Goals from set plays | 15 | 4th |
| xG | 87.74 | 3rd |
| Shots from open play | 571 | 1st |
| Shots from set plays | 168 | 7th |
| Shots per game | 15.5 | 2nd |
| Crosses per game | 20 | 1st |
“We will need a proven goalscorer. We did create and score a good few goals in the Championship but were quite wasteful at times. With far less opportunities coming along in the Premier League we will need a much higher percentage conversion rate.” – The Naga Khan
PLAYER-BY-PLAYER
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