Southampton will be hoping they have finally got it right with the appointment of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl after their three previous managers failed to build on the Premier League success enjoyed by Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman.
The last thing the Saints want in 2019-20 is a relegation battle and the bookmakers, and ourselves, believe they should be pushing up into mid-table after finishing 16th last season.
Southampton Betting Specials
To win the league – 1000/1
To win the FA Cup – 66/1
To win the EFL Cup – 50/1
To finish in the top six – 33/1
To finish in the top ten – 5/2
To stay up – 1/7
To be relegated – 9/2
Danny Ings to be top scorer – 200/1
James Ward-Prowse to win PFA Player of the Season – 500/1
Having narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, Southampton looked like being involved in the dogfight again until they replaced manager Mark Hughes with Ralph Hasenhuttl in early December. It took a little while, but Saints did improve under their new regime.
The home form, which had been poor for some time, picked up in particular and there was much more goal threat about Southampton, who scored two or more in over half of their league and cup matches at St Mary’s in 2019 – they had previously struggled to produce anywhere near that output.
The Manager
Ralph Hasenhuttl is an Austrian who will celebrate his 52nd birthday on the day the Premier League season begins, and he built his managerial reputation in the German Bundesliga firstly by guiding Ingolstadt to promotion.
He subsequently got the job at RB Leipzig and led them to second place behind Bayern Munich and into the Champions League, finishing sixth in the German table the following campaign before parting company with the club.
The New Arrivals
Southampton have been among the quieter clubs in the transfer market this summer, mainly because they had a large squad anyway and the focus has mainly been on streamlining the group during Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first pre-season at the helm.
But they have added a couple of attacking options in Birmingham City striker Che Adams and Mali international winger Moussa Djenepo from Standard Liege, while Danny Ings’ permanent move from Liverpool has been confirmed.
Nathan Redmond during an England training session (PA Images)
The Key Man
Nathan Redmond was the perfect example of a player who benefited hugely from the arrival of Ralph Hasenhuttl as Southampton manager, failing to score a goal in his first 20 matches of the 2018-19 season but then bagging nine from the weekend before Christmas onwards.
The ex-Birmingham and Norwich forward is the ideal age now at 25 to really kick his career on and boost his international prospects, having been on the periphery of the England set-up since gaining his solitary cap in March 2017.
Who will be the next superstar from the Saints production line?
Southampton have sold on lots of young players for big money over the last decade or so and the next one could be young French defender Yan Valery, who was the club’s Young Player of the Season in 2018-19.
A right-back who is also comfortable playing as a wing-back, the 20-year-old joined Southampton four years ago from Rennes and made the breakthrough last term with 24 league and cup appearances, scoring goals on back-to-back Saturdays against Manchester United and Tottenham no less – the first of them an absolute screamer.
Can Danny Ings get the service he needs to get among the goals?
Ings has had a terrible time with injuries in the last few years but was going along nicely last term, scoring eight goals before Christmas, until fitness issues surfaced again and he had a stop-start second half of the campaign, failing to increase his tally.
If, as expected, he is Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first choice to lead the line, the former Liverpool man can expect to get into double figures at least with the service provided by the likes of Nathan Redmond, James Ward-Prowse and Stuart Armstrong.
Where will Southampton finish this season?
11th.
They do not look ready yet to challenge for a place in Europe again but this should be a better campaign for Southampton given that they have improved under Ralph Hasenhuttl, especially from an attacking point of view.
The key will be the home form – St Mary’s had become something of a soft venue for visiting teams, but Saints have restored a little of the fear factor and appear keener now to take games there to the opposition.
It’s very short odds, but this is one to put in your accumulators and given that they have not strengthened their squad all that much compared to some of their rivals, we do not see Saints climbing out of the bottom half of the table.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl pictured during a pre-season friendly match (PA Images)
