Southampton must drop star who had fewer touches than Bazunu vs West Brom

Southampton must drop star who had fewer touches than Bazunu vs West Brom

Southampton breathed a major sigh of relief getting back to winning ways against West Bromwich Albion, the Saints not allowing the blip of losing away at Bristol City to overwhelm them on their travels to the Hawthorns.

It ended up being a rather routine Championship win against Carlos Corberan’s playoff hopefuls on their own patch last Friday night, with Southampton confidently winning 2-0 courtesy of a Ryan Fraser strike on top of a first goal for David Brooks in Saints red and white.

Still, with tonight’s game against Hull City looming large and Russell Martin needing his troops to be fresh against the potentially tricky Tigers, the former Swansea City boss could look to drop Shea Charles in the centre of the park after an unmemorable showing versus the Baggies.

Shea Charles’ performance vs West Brom in numbers

The former Manchester City midfielder has found himself back in the central Saints midfield trio owing to Flynn Downes being sidelined through injury, but could now find himself out of the starting lineup again.

Whilst the likes of Stuart Armstrong stood out centrally as a creative force, the experienced Scotsman notching up an impressive five key passes, with one of those resulting in an assist, Charles was more quiet and reserved in his approach, making just 43 touches in total – fewer than teammate Gavin Bazunu (62) in the sticks.

The Northern Ireland international would win just above half of his duels against the Baggies, coming in at a 55.556% win percentage, whilst only notching up one key pass in the contest compared to Armstrong’s glowing numbers.

Giving up possession seven times in the middle of the pitch also, with Smallbone squandering the ball just three times in contrast, the promising 20-year-old could be dropped to the bench against Hull after an unnoteworthy 58-minute spell at the Hawthorns.

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Joe Aribo could well benefit from Martin axing Charles, with the ex-Rangers man showing glimpses of his quality going forward when the Saints boss decided to bring the 27-year-old on for a run-out last time out.

Joe Aribo’s performance vs West Brom in numbers

Martin remaining hush about Downes being potentially fit and ready for a return to action against Hull could see Aribo benefit from the West Ham United man’s continued absence also, the Nigerian attacking midfielder raring to go if selected against Liam Rosenior’s visitors tonight.

The Saints’ number seven stood out when introduced late on against West Brom, Aribo attempting to drive his promotion-chasing team forward more in pursuit of a fantastic away day win.

Successfully completing all of his dribbles from an impactful 32-minute cameo to unnerve the Baggies, Aribo was also solid in nullifying Corberan’s hosts when tracking back to help out defensively.

The former Rangers man would win 100% of his ground duels on the night, giving the Saints more bite as well as more of a direct presence foraying forward.

Aribo’s numbers vs West Brom

Minutes played

32

Touches

24

Key passes

1

Successful dribbles

2/2 (100%)

Ground duels won

3/3 (100%)

Possession lost

2x

Stats by Sofascore

After coming on and shining against West Brom, Martin might well be intrigued to see how Aribo would fare from the get-go against Hull tonight.

As games become more and more pressurised and intense with the season gradually nearing towards its conclusion, Martin will need to utilise all of the squad at his disposal effectively which could see Charles make way for Aribo to have a chance to impress again at St. Mary’s.