Look no further than Molineux for the Premier League match with the most riding on it this weekend.
This is the very definition of a ‘must win’ for Wolves and for Southampton. Here we have two sides whose 20 outings between them all season have yielded only a single victory.
And that came last weekend for Southampton, a 1-0 win over Everton in which there was a change in approach from Russell Martin’s team. Previously, they had been playing it safe, passing from side to side without any penetration.
As nicely as that statistic looked on the possession standings, it did little to lift them up the table that matters. It felt like a major event if a pass was played forward through the lines. If you want to give yourselves a chance of staying up, you need to play purposeful possession-based football, be brave, and take risks to get the rewards. Last weekend, Southampton at last showed some expression in their attacking play.
That included when they produced a clever move to open up their opponents so that Adam Armstrong could score their winner. Although Southampton hold the poorest record for winning possession in the league, they upped their intensity for the Everton match, managing more regains than in any other game all season.
This is an incredibly young side playing under Martin, one collectively lacking in experience at this elite level, but I like what I’ve seen of Tyler Dibling.
Only 18, he is a very confident midfielder, a Jack Grealish type with low socks and high energy and an academy graduate who believes he belongs at this level. He’s made it into England’s Under 21s, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis, 22, has received his own confidence boost by being named in Lee Carsley’s senior squad after only 10 Premier League appearances.
More belief is needed across the board and Southampton must build on the momentum they created last weekend by continuing to play football without fear.
That is required today when Wolves will hope it is their turn to use home advantage and bring the visitors back down to earth. In the seven losses they have suffered under Gary O’Neil this season, six of those have been to Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Matches you might have expected them to lose. But with only one win in their last 20 league games, O’Neil knows their season needs to start today. Those Wolves players need to step up for their manager. If O’Neil is not able to get three vital points here, it will be incredibly difficult for him to yet again stand in front of a press conference and explain, for the umpteenth time, why he didn’t get what he wanted.