Southampton will go in search of their first ever League Cup title on Sunday when they take on Manchester United in the final at Wembley.

Claude Puel’s side have put a remarkable run together in the competition by beating four Premier League teams en route to the showpiece, including Arsenal in the quarter-finals and Liverpool over two legs in the semi-finals.

Although their recent league form hasn’t been too good, they clearly have pedigree in the competition, and they’ll look to go one better than their one and only League Cup final back in 1979, where they lost 3-2 to Nottingham Forest.

Their most recent match, a 4-0 success over Sunderland back on February 11, gave them some much-needed breathing space from the bottom three after a run of six defeats in seven saw them slump down the Premier League table, and in danger of being dragged into a relegation dog-fight over the coming months.

However, they sit 11th and ten points clear of the bottom three after their win at the Stadium of Light, and their positioning in the league will enable them to go all-out at Wembley on Sunday.

So, ahead of the first final of the season, we thought we’d take a look back at Southampton’s campaign thus far, and here is What’s Hot and What’s Not from their 2016/17 season so far…

HOT – League Cup final

There’s no doubt that the highlight of Southampton’s season so far is reaching the League Cup final, where they’ll face Manchester United on Sunday.

Puel’s men have knocked out four Premier League sides en route to the Wembley showpiece, beating Crystal Palace 2-0 in round three, and then getting past David Moyes’ Sunderland 1-0 in the fourth round.

But it was their subsequent victories which made everyone sit up and take note, as the Saints went to the Emirates and outplayed Arsenal to win 2-0, before they beat Liverpool both home and away in the semi-finals with two outstanding displays.

It’s a title Southampton have never won – they reached the final in 1979 but lost to Nottingham Forest – and they haven’t won a piece of silverware since they won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy back in 2010.

It would be quite the achievement if they got past United to win the League Cup on Sunday.

NOT – Europa League campaign

Hopes were high at the start of the season for Southampton’s return to European competition, 12 years after their last campaign.

Nonetheless, despite a stunning victory over Inter Milan at St Mary’s in November, Puel’s men meekly limped out of the Europa League after winning just two of their six games, with their score draw with Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the last match enough to see the Israeli side through based on their superior head-to-head record.

Victories over Sparta Prague, who won the group, and Inter were mixed in with frustrating defeats to both away from home, but it was the two draws with Hapoel that did for the Saints, with many critical of Puel for his negative tactics in trying to play for a goalless draw in the last game, a result which would have sent Southampton through.

Overall, it was a frustrating campaign that promised so much but ultimately failed to deliver.

HOT – Virgil van Dijk’s performances

There have been some excellent performers for Southampton this term, Oriol Romeu and Charlie Austin to name a few, but none have been as impressive as centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

The Dutch international moved to St Mary’s back in 2015 but didn’t make a great start to life in English football, before slowly but surely finding his feet at the heart of the Saints defence, and forming quite the partnership with Jose Fonte, who left for West Ham last month.

Puel’s men had one of the best defensive records for much of the first half of the campaign, and van Dijk’s displays were a big reason for that, with the 25-year-old possessing everything a modern-day centre-half needs to succeed.

The other big plus for Southampton was keeping him during the January transfer window, as several clubs were linked with him such have been his brilliant displays, and it was even more important given Fonte’s departure.

Van Dijk is currently out injured and will miss the League Cup final, yet he is sure to return and perform in the same vein between now and May.

NOT – Not enough goals in the team

Southampton have managed just 28 goals in the Premier League this season, which is a tally better than only five other sides in the top-flight, three of which are in the bottom four.

And when your top-scorer is Charlie Austin, who has been out injured since December, with six, you know that you’ve got some issues in the final third.

The likes of Jay Rodriguez and Shane Long have done reasonably well in the Englishman’s absence, although they aren’t going to score 15 plus goals a season, while Dusan Tadic and Nathan Redmond have managed just five goals between them this term so far.

Puel was pretty much forced to sign a striker in the January transfer window, hence the arrival of Manolo Gabbiadini from Napoli, and he has hit the ground running with three goals in two games.

Saints fans will hope that his arrival will galvanise the front players to net more goals between now and the end of the season.