Statistical Preview: Southampton vs Stoke

Three goals from England’s triumvirate Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert guided the Saints to a convincing 3-0 victory over strugglers Fulham, and helped sustain their position in the top half of the table. They host Stoke, buoyant after a terrific victory over Manchester United.   

The England boys may have hit the headlines after laying on three goals for the Saints, but the performance of holding midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin should not be overlooked. Sitting at the base of Southampton’s midfield 5, Schneiderlin bossed the midfield to great effect, setting up attack after attack and completing a total of 35 passes in the opposition half. You can find Schneiderlin at an industry best 13/2 with 888sport.com to score at any point on Saturday.

In the absence of Dejan Lovren the rest of the Southampton defence will have to up their game, as he had established himself as the rock at the heart of the Saints’ rearguard effort. Jose Fonte did so on Saturday, making a total of 21 defensive contributions (tackles won, blocks, interceptions and clearances) – this was the most in the Southampton squad and the fourth most in the league.

With Ashley Cole falling down the pecking order at Chelsea, Luke Shaw must think that he has every chance of making Roy Hodgson’s squad for Brazil come this Summer. The Southampton academy graduate was impressive when going forward against Fulham, completing a total of 27 passes in the opposition half.

Rickie Lambert added two assists to his goal on Saturday, taking his overall goalscoring contribution total (goals and assists) for the season to 14. This performance meant that he overtook Adam Lallana (13) and Jay Rodriguez (13) in the Southampton table for goalscoring contributions made.

An inspirational performance from Charlie Adam meant that Mark Hughes’ men moved up to 11th in the table after victory over the Champions.

Charlie Adam may have scored two goals for the Potters, but to just focus on them would take credit away from an excellent overall offensive performance. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that Adam made more offensive contributions, based on shots on target, crosses, passes in the opposition half, and dribbles, than any other player in the Stoke squad (20). Adam is 21/4 with 888sport.com to score at any point on Saturday.

Much of the credit for keeping the Champions at bay on Saturday should be given to defender Geoff Cameron. The US international is an extremely competent defender, demonstrated through his ability to operate in any position in the back four, and this excellent ability of his was on show on Saturday as he made a total of 17 defensive contributions (based on blocks, clearances, interceptions and tackles won). The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that this was more than any other Stoke player.

Erik Pieters won another 3 tackles on Saturday, taking his overall tally to the season to an outstanding 87. The Dutch left back was a shrewd signing from manager Mark Hughes, and his excellent tackling ability is clear through the fact that he has won the second most challenges in the league.

Another Stoke player who has superb tackling ability is centre half Robert Huth. The former Chelsea man has become a stalwart of Stoke’s back four, and with a tackle win percentage of 83% this campaign it isn’t hard to see why!