Southampton v Bournemouth – Report and analysis

Saints formation

Saints have struggled for goals all season long, however, in the earlier stages it wasn’t often fans left a match having seen them spurn clear chances.

The one positive, then, is that Puel’s return to a fluid 4-2-3-1 shape has seen the midfielders getting involved once again. In the first half especially the trio of Ward-Prowse, Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic combined well in the final third, something which simply wasn’t there earlier in the season.