Southampton

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Russell Martin spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Southampton's defeat against Leicester: "I think the sending off changes the game. We started the game so well, the second half so well, their goal came out of nothing. Then Ryan gets sent off and the game becomes really difficult.

"I thought we were better in the start of the second half then the end of the first half. We didn't take our chances to get the third goal. Then someone gets sent off and it changes the whole context.

"I think with VAR I can't have any complaints, it is what it is."

On goal coming after end of added time: "It's the referee's prerogative to add the time on he feels has been added on in injury time. He told our players it was the final action, so we have to defend it properly."

On the message to the players: "To understand what's hurt us, to understand what has put us into a 2-0 lead in a really brilliant performance. But right now there is no message I can give that is helpful because of the emotion everyone is feeling. Give everyone to digest that and the process will continue."

On his message to the fans: "The fans have been brilliant since I've been here. I'm not sure the boos were directed at their team because the team were giving everything. My message is to be really supportive, they've been great."

On the message to fans questioning his future: "I've nothing to say apart from that I need to keep working and we need to win a game of football. I hope they will always turn up and support their team, they've been amazing."

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Southampton have now gone 21 games without a win in the Premier League (five draws, 16 losses), their outright longest winless streak in top-flight history.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Southampton's performance, external

What did you make of Leicester’s display?, external

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For week eight, he takes on legendary boxing manager Kellie Maloney.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

A win would be massive for both teams, given they are both in the bottom six, but especially for Southampton boss Russell Martin.

So much has been made of his brand of football that, despite him doing so well to get them promoted, their fans will eventually start to turn against him unless he gets some points on the board - at the moment they only have one.

Leicester, meanwhile, did get their first victory of the campaign last time out. It was a good win over Bournemouth, but I wonder if that will count for as much because all their players jetted off afterwards. The Foxes probably did not want the international break.

Leicester won 9-0 here in October 2019, but this time it is going to be a lot tighter. A draw is not much good to Foxes manager Steve Cooper either, but that is what I am going with.

Kellie's prediction: Southampton need a win but I think Leicester will take this one. 0-1

Read the rest of their predictions, and have your own say here

There are seven matches that make up Saturday's Premier League action:

• Tottenham v West Ham - 12:30

• Fulham v Aston Villa

• Ipswich v Everton

• Manchester United v Brentford (listen on BBC Radio 5 Live)

• Newcastle v Brighton

• Southampton v Leicester

• Bournemouth v Arsenal - 17:30 (listen on BBC Radio 5 Live)

Kick-off 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

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The Premier League returns this weekend, with each club having played seven matches.

BBC Sport has looked at eight players that have performed better than fans may have expected this season.

Southampton are yet to record a Premier League victory after winning promotion from the Championship last season.

But one of the main plusses for Russell Martin's side has been the form of 18-year-old creative midfielder Tyler Dibling.

He had only made one substitute appearance in the league before this season, but instantly has looked at home in the top flight. He scored his first Saints goal last month when he linked up with 36-year-old Adam Lallana and netted in the 1-1 draw with Ipswich, and won a penalty against Manchester United.

Did you know? No teenager has created more chances in the Premier League this season than Dibling (seven).

See the other players BBC Sport picked here

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton boss Russell Martin says his critics are welcome to sit down with him to discuss his style of play rather than making an "uneducated guess" about it.

With Saints picking up just one point from their opening seven games, Martin has come under fire from some fans and pundits for his possession-based playing style, which he has not altered since promotion.

"I always find it fascinating that someone can watch six minutes of highlights and have a really credible opinion of your team, [and about] you as a person as well, about being stubborn or whatever," Martin said.

"I would always invite those people to come and sit down and have a chat about it and why we would do things if they want to have a really educated opinion rather than an educated guess - or an uneducated guess sometimes.

"I don't know how we're perceived. My perception of our team is that they're brave and they're doing some really brave things. Eventually, that courage will pay off.

"And if it doesn't, then I'll know that we stayed ourselves and stayed true to ourselves, which I knew would be the biggest challenge at the start of this season with the amount of questions and scrutiny we would get - because of the way we play, because I'm an English coach and because I'm young.

"The rest will just be what it will be.

"I'm proud of the journey they're on, but no-one cares about any of that if you don't win. So we have to win and this game is as good as any to get that first win and really kick us off."

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton defender Charlie Taylor says getting a first win of the season "will breed a lot of confidence" into the team.

Saints host Leicester City on Saturday and Taylor hopes his team-mates can use the pressure of their form and league positioning to get three much-needed points.

"The international break gave us a couple of weeks to get some work done on the training ground.," Taylor told BBC Radio Solent. "The games [coming up] are now a chance to put that into practise.

"We have got some incredible young players here who are only going to get better and improve on what we have experienced so far this season. The best is yet to come from them all.

"We have just got to remain as a team and believe in what we are doing. That is something that the gaffer here is drilling into us.

"Once we get our first win that will breed a lot of confidence as well.

"They are always big games in this league and Leicester will be no different. Any win is huge but we have the added factor of the game being at home.

"Pressure comes in different ways but it is about using it as a good thing."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

Image source, Opta

After the October international break, the Opta supercomputer has updated its projected final Premier League table.

It is only seven matches into the campaign so much can still change, but the season is beginning to take shape. The supercomputer simulates thousands of seasons and takes the percentage each side finishes in each league position.

Southampton remain most likely to finish bottom but their one point from seven games has seen their chances increasing dramatically from 28.6% to 61%.

A solid start, despite no win yet, has seen Ipswich's probability of finishing 17th creep up from 12% to 15.2% - but a 19th-placed finish has increased from 21.3% to 25.3%.

Leicester's most likely finish has changed from bottom to 18th after their first win under Steve Cooper, while Crystal Palace's poor start has seen their chances of ending in their current position of 18th go from 1.1% to 7.2%.

Wolves finished 18th in 9.7% of simulations before a ball was kicked but the now-bottom side are now at 20.1% to end in that position after a winless first seven games.

The player who has covered the most distance in the Premier League this season is a Saint - and has run the same distance as it is from St Mary's to the edge of Greater London.

He has also sprinted more than anyone else for Southampton this season.

But who is he?

Find out here

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Southampton boss Russell Martin has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League home game against Leicester (15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Ross Stewart's injury is "not long-term" but it is still "frustrating" for him after the striker limped off in his first start for nearly two years against Arsenal with a muscle problem: "We need to support him mentally and psychologically more than physically because it has been one setback after another."

• Will Smallbone and Kamaldeen Sulemana are fit again and available for the visit of the Foxes.

• On Cameron Archer: "He's been really good for us. I really love him as a boy - the willingness to work and get better, the want to help the team. Repetition after repetition, make a mistake and go again. He's a brilliant signing for us and I think he'll score a lot."

• Martin is keen to build on a promising performance at Arsenal before the international break: "The focus has been on us. We're at home off the back of a performance people feel good about in the building. Then we need to turn that into a win."

• On the challenge posed by Leicester: "Brilliant traits from last season when they were asked to play in a really clear way under Enzo [Maresca] and were the best team in the league. They were outstanding. Steve [Cooper] has put some of those attributes into his team. He and his coaching staff are excellent in terms of being organised and a threat on the counter-attack."

• Saints are still searching for their first Premier League win and clean sheet: "We should be on more points than we're on. We should have one or two clean sheets but we don't. So, we have to make sure we keep doing the right things and trust in the work and trust in each other it will come. The team has shown they can compete at times when we play like us and compete like us."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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We asked for one thing nobody is talking about at Southampton.

Here are some of your comments:

Jon: The biggest issue has been the lack of a high-quality striker. When we had Pelle and Mane we had two great seasons, then they left and we struggled to score until we signed Danny Ings. Since Ings left, lower quality strikers have needed the perfect pass and we have struggled to convert possession and good periods of play into goals and points.

Mike: By sticking to a possession-based approach, Russell Martin is paving his own management career. Saints don't have the quality to play like this. He should adapt a style to suit the players we have. I'm sceptical he knows how - or even that he's motivated - to change. Vincent Kompany failed at Burnley and look at him now.

Daz: One thing no one is talking about is what Russell Martin will do next after Saints. Once they sack him, where will he go next?

Graham: Let's face it, Martin has built a good Championship team but we are woeful at the top level. Relegation looks a certainty but maybe a new manager can get us back up and stay there.

One point from seven games has left Southampton joint bottom after seven games with debate growing over whether Russell Martin's style of play is suited to the Premier League.

An improved performance against Arsenal before the international break has, however, given fans something to cling to.

However, while performances and tactics are key issues, you know the things that are flying under the radar.

So when it comes to the Saints, what is the one thing nobody is talking about - good or bad?

Tell us here, external

BBC Sport pundit Fara Williams will be answering your questions, giving her insight and opinion around your club.

So what would you like to ask the former England midfielder?

What can your team achieve after their start to the season? Who has been your best player so far? What does the manager's future hold?

Send in your questions here, external

A relegation-related question was put to BBC chief football writer Phil McNulty in Monday's Q&A.

Rachel asked: Considering the start a couple of Premier League teams have had, have you changed your mind about who is going to go down this year?

Phil answered: I made the choice of Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town, so I have to stick with that for now.

From what I have watched, though, I can see Ipswich making a decent fist of it and then we have the struggles for Wolves, who I thought would be doing better than they have - so that is always a bit of a wildcard.

I'm at Southampton v Leicester this weekend so maybe I'll learn more then.

Read more of the Q&A with Phil and the rest of the day's football news

Image source, Getty Images

Former Southampton captain Jason Dodd says he is concerned Russell Martin is unsure of his best side and that the manager's style of play may cost the Saints in the Premier League.

"I think when you looked at those first seven games you thought 'there's a few opportunities here to be picking up some points'," Dodd told BBC Radio Solent.

"We didn't really expect to beat Arsenal but in some of the other games you are expecting us to pick up points. That is a worry because I felt there were two or three wins in there early in the season.

"The worrying thing is from my point of view, I'm still not so sure the manager really knows what his best XI is.

"In the Premier League you can't be gifting goals to the opposition because they're that clinical and we're under pressure again. It does worry me.

"He has slightly changed it and he's not going sideways and backwards as much and we're being a little bit more forward thinking but I think that's just the way we are.

"We always resort back to that and we're gifting quality sides easy goals. That is going to cost us in the longer run."

When asked about the view that Martin's style of play will not work in the Premier League, Dodd added: "I agree totally.

"But then again this is the manager's philosophy, it's then up the players to not make the mistakes. You can blame the manager for how he wants them to play but then it's over to the players. If they're continually making these mistakes it is going to be costly.

"It's a catch-22 situation. This is how Russell Martin wants to play but have we got the players to be able to do that? Just in these seven games the vast majority of the goals we've conceded we've had a say in how we've conceded and that is a worry."

Listen to the full chat on BBC Sounds

Former manager Mark Warburton talks to The Football News Show about how managers can deal with mental health struggles while working at a club and what support there is available to them.

Watch The Football News Show's Mental Health special

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

The top sides picked up their customary three points, but the Premier League newbies are still trying to find that something special to get them out of the danger zone.

‌I reckon each now knows the player that is likely to save them, the question is, are these three going to be good enough at this level.

‌Leicester have Facundo Buonanotte, a class creative act on loan from Brighton who has the vision and skill to cause the best defences problems. Brighton might want him back as soon as possible, so the Foxes must get the most out of the 19-year-old starlet in the meantime.

‌Southampton continue to breezily give goals away in exactly the same style every week, but at the other end of the field they have two exciting prospects in 22-year-old Cameron Archer and 18-year-old Tyler Dibling. The latter has only started four Premier League games but has already shown that he could be their true star, with other bigger clubs already eyeing him jealously. He has to mature and grow quickly if he is going to save the Saints, but look how quickly Cole Palmer matured.

‌As for Ipswich, Liam Delap is clearly the man, having already scored four goals in eight games this season. The 21-year-old started out at Manchester City, but it isn’t easy to get a game there. There is a temptation to think of him as a bargain-basement Erling Haaland, but it is unfair to compare anyone with the Norwegian. Delap is a top striker in the making.

‌So the promoted clubs are relying on a 19-year-old, an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old to keep them in the Premier League.

‌Each is a long shot, but each at least gives them a chance.

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Southampton's hierarchy are set to meet to discuss manager Russell Martin’s future at the club. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column