Wolves v Southampton: Inside track on Ralph Hasenhuttl's side

We spoke with Ben Stanfield, from the Total Saints Podcast, and Steve Grant, owner of SaintsWeb to get the inside track on Ralph Hasenhuttl's men.

See what they had to say here...

How has the start of the season gone for Southampton?

BS: It’s not been a great start to the season but, to be fair, we have already played four of the ‘big six’.

Those fixtures have made it hard for Saints to build any early season momentum and, with Leicester and Man City to come after this game against Wolves, it could mean we find ourselves sitting in the relegation zone by the time ‘the league sorts itself out’ (i.e. ten games have been played).

SG: Not great, in all honesty.

We’ve actually looked alright against the bigger clubs but without any tangible reward for those performances (a draw against Man United is now looking like a bad result), but most of our points have come away against teams who will be towards the foot of the table in May – that’s fine, of course, beating the teams you should beat and giving a go against the teams above is the bread and butter, but after a fairly solid second half of the season I think most fans were expecting our defence to have made a bit of progress, at least.

What sort of business did the Saints do over the summer?

BS: We only bought in three players over the summer - Che Adams from Birmingham, Moussa Djenepo from Standard Leige and Kevin Danso (on loan) from Augsburg.

Alongside that, Danny Ings’ move from Liverpool was made permanent, as per the terms of the agreement when he joined on loan in August 2018.

SG: Most of the work has centred on getting deadwood out of the club, and while there weren’t a huge number of sales made (after all, who wants overpaid players who can’t get in a team who finished 16th last season), pretty much every player Ralph Hasenhüttl wanted to get rid of did end up leaving, albeit mostly on loan.

In terms of incomings, I don’t think we quite got all of the business done that the manager would have liked, but he clearly prioritised more pace and variety in attack and so the first couple of signings were Che Adams from Birmingham and Moussa Djenepo from Standard Liege.

Djenepo, when fit, has looked like the replacement for Sadio Mane that we’ve needed since he left, so if we can get him out there more often then we’ve got a real gem (needless to say, insert obvious Liverpool signing joke here).

Adams looks like he has all the attributes, but has perhaps lacked a bit of luck so far. Time waits for no man, though, so while Danny Ings has been scoring, Adams is now warming the bench.

The only other arrival was Kevin Danso from Augsburg, initially on loan, but presumably with a view to a permanent deal next year. He fits the bill in terms of the physical attributes, but so far he’s only been able to get in the side as a makeshift full-back when his main position is in the middle, so we wait to see what we’ve actually got there.

How would you rate that business from what you've seen so far?

BS: Djenepo has looked the best of the new boys so far, although he’s already missed half the season through injury! When fit, he’s shown pace, unpredictability and also bagged a couple of goals as well.

Adams has struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League so far - well, certainly in terms of scoring goals - but it’s early days and important fans give him time.

The one signing many of us felt we desperately needed was an experienced/communicative centre back, but that individual never arrived. Just like the last couple of years (ever since Van Dijk left for Liverpool), we’ve looked all over the place at the back this season and already conceded lots of soft goals!

SG: I think we played a bad hand about as well as we could have done, really.

Everyone knew we had to get rid of a load of players before being able to bring in replacements, so Matt Targett’s move to Villa paved the way for Adams’ arrival, and the wage bill has been dramatically reduced by the departures of Charlie Austin, Mario Lemina, Mo Elyounoussi and Fraser Forster.

We look like we’ve got a slightly more balanced squad, although the defensive question marks still remain, but those may also be midfield question marks too…

What sort of football can we expect to see from Ralph Hassenhuttl's side at Molineux?

BS: Even as a Saints fan it’s hard to know at the moment! He seems unsure of his best XI and also unsure on how best to set them up.

He’s largely chopped and changed (often during games) between 4-2-2-2 and 4-3-3, but we’ve also played with three centre backs on several occasions!

While Saints have performed well away from home so far this season - with two wins from four games - they continue to look shaky at the back, so it’ll be interesting to see what (if anything) they’ve worked on over the international break.

SG: I’d imagine we’ll try to keep the game pretty tight and hit Wolves on the counter-attack, i.e. exactly the way Wolves would like to play themselves.

I definitely don’t see us playing into their hands by going gung-ho at any stage, unless the game is slipping away from us late in the game.

Our system seems to currently involve almost deliberately giving the ball away deep in the opposition half and then winning it back quickly – I’m not really sure how well that’ll work against a team who know exactly how that system works and do it much better themselves, but I guess we’ll see!

Who are the big threats in this Saints side and why?

BS: Danny Ings is in good goalscoring form at the moment, and will likely pounce on any half-chance in and around the Wolves penalty box. I’m sure he’ll be one that your guys will be keeping their eye on.

Outside of Ings, Nathan Redmond is always a player who can make something happen - and, as an ex-Blue, saw last season how much he enjoyed scoring against Wolves!

Other than that, no-one else is really contributing much at the moment, so it’s slim pickings!

SG: Danny Ings is the goalscorer in form, having got four in his last three games, but the service will likely come from Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal.

Boufal is going to be a key player for us this season, having returned from a loan spell reinvigorated, his ability to dribble past players and keep possession in tight areas is vital to allowing us to get up the pitch away from our own goal.

What's your predicted XI from Southampton? And is anyone likely to miss out with injury?

BS: Djenepo and Cedric were both unavailable before the International break. Neither are fit for this game.

Hasenhüttl was not impressed by any of the Saints team after the thrashing to Chelsea, so I think there’s a good chance he could really mix it up a bit.

I’ll go with: McCarthy, Cedric, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Danso, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Armstrong, Redmond, Adams, Ings.

SG: Predicting our defence has been more or less impossible this season, which may go some way to explain our awful defensive record, but with Cedric out injured that makes the decision a little bit easier. Djenepo is missing out too through injury..

Gunn; Valery, Bednarek, Yoshida, Bertrand; Romeu, Højbjerg, Ward-Prowse; Boufal, Redmond, Ings

What have you made of Wolves from afar this season, do you think they have what it takes to battle on domestic and European fronts this season?

BS: It’s been a great start to the season in the Europa League, and beating Man City at the Etihad is never an easy task - so Wolves will no doubt be full of confidence currently.

I guess the question all your fans will be asking is, with a fairly small squad (certainly compared to some), can you sustain it for the full season, if (or when...) tiredness/injuries/suspensions etc. kick in!?

Wolves are now in the position that Saints were a few seasons ago (Europa etc.). As a fan, it’s important to enjoy every single moment in a campaign like this, because we all know football is full of ups and downs!

SG: Wolves’ season seemed to start as a bit of a slog, but it was always going to take a while to adjust to the demands of European football.

Not being able to spend all week preparing for the weekend game in terms of systems and organisation, especially with a relatively small squad, is pretty tough, and I think the Watford game arrived at the perfect time to ease them into a rhythm.

The City game was obviously an excellent result and performance, but bloodying the noses of the big clubs has been Wolves’ “thing” in the last 15 months so I’m not sure the way it came about was all that surprising.

The issue has been putting away the also-rans, of which we’re definitely a part of…

Your match prediction?

BS: I think Wolves will be too good for Saints - both technically and physically. 3-0 home win.

SG: Our away form has been much better than our home form, but even so we’re just not as good as Wolves right now so it’s still going to be a difficult afternoon for us.

A lot will hinge on what side Nuno picks with the Europa League game next week in mind.

If he leaves any weak spots, we’ve got a chance, but realistically I can see a similarly dour game to last season’s visit with a similar outcome.

You can follow Ben on Twitter here. Whilst Steve can be found here.