After four successive top-half finishes, each achieved as their best players (and the occasional manager) were picked off by “bigger” clubs, Southampton diced with death in 2017/18.
A run of one win in 21 fixtures between late-November and the end of April left the Saints in the relegation zone with just four matches to spare, before Mark Hughes steered the club to Premier League safety with victories over Bournemouth and Swansea City.
Hughes’ appointment in March not only sparked an upturn in form but also led to a change of system, with the Welshman ditching Mauricio Pellegrino’s 4-2-3-1 in favour of a 3-4-2-1 – the repercussions of which for Fantasy managers we will discuss later.
Southampton assets weren’t a reliable source of points for Fantasy Premier League bosses last season: of the current squad, only Ryan Bertrand broke the 100-point barrier.
Charlie Austin‘s campaign was, once again, hampered by injury, while frequent rotation in the centre-back positions (not one centre-half made more than 30 starts) meant that the likes of Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens proved to be undependable budget defensive picks.
Not that the Saints’ defence was an attractive proposition anyway – only Bournemouth and Stoke City kept fewer clean sheets in the Premier League than Southampton (eight) last season.
That Austin, who made only ten starts and 14 substitute appearances, finished as the Saints’ leading league goal-scorer on seven goals said a lot about Southampton’s struggles in the opposition box, too.
The south coast club’s decent-looking opening run of fixtures this season – Burnley (h), Everton (a), Leicester City (h), Crystal Palace (a), Brighton and Hove Albion (h) – are inviting from a Fantasy perspective, but the Saints’ woes last season are evidently still at the forefront of many FPL managers’ minds; Cedric Soares is the only Southampton player who currently has a double-digit ownership.
In-depth data on Southampton’s season is available in the Members’ Area, while Fantasy Football Scout members can also read our detailed analysis of the key statistics in the article below.
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