Southampton have made a pretty average start to the Premier League season, and find themselves lying in 12th place as a result.

Goals have been hard to come by for the Saints, who have only managed to score 13 goals in 14 Premier League games this term – only four teams have scored fewer goals in the division.

The defence is looking solid but the with the big boys looking on admiringly at Virgil Van Dijk, Southampton are going to need to start scoring more goals to rise up the table if they are to have any chance of holding on to him.

The south coast club have enjoyed themselves in Europe this term and face a crunch match with Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva to make it through to the knockout stages of the Europa League. This could be there last European adventure for a while unless they address their goal-scoring problem.

With the January transfer window fast approaching here are THREE reasons why we here at Shoot! reckon Southampton are in need of a striker…

Overly reliant on Charlie Austin

Southampton look extremely reliant on Charlie Austin, who has started the season well, bagging six of Southampton’s 13 Premier League goals.

This is good news for the Englishman, but potentially bad news for the Saints, as should the 27-year-old suffers a loss of form or is out with injury, where will the goals come from?

Even if he keeps up the pace all season, he’s bound to have some off games and Southampton will need others to step up if they are to climb the Premier League table during the second half of the campaign, a new striker could help in that regard.

Need goals to make European football again

Southampton currently lie in 12th place in the Premier League, they need to finish at least 7th or win a trophy to be playing European football next season.

Their adventure in the competition this season is sure to spur them on and give them greater motivation to qualify again this campaign. But to do that they need to be averaging higher than the one goal per league game they currently are, a shiny new striker could solve this problem if he adapts well to the club.

They’ve got the money

The Saints have made around £35million in transfer profit over the last three seasons, due to the sales of the Schneiderlin, Shaw, Lallana and Mane, to name a few.

Additionally, the new TV deal has recently come into play, a deal that has lined the pockets of every Premier League club in the land.

It’s clear that Southampton have got the money to spend, so why not spend it? They’re desperately lacking in the goals department and the £20-30million required for a top striker is doing nothing for the team just sat around in the bank.