Russell Martin has been preparing his Southampton side for the short trip to AFC Bournemouth on Monday night for a south coast showdown.
Southampton are fresh off the back of their first point of the season after a 1-1 draw with fellow newly-promoted side Ipswich Town last weekend.
Bournemouth themselves have only won once in the Premier League so far this season, coming back from 2-0 down to beat Everton 3-2.
It will be an intriguing clash at the Vitality Stadium, with Russell Martin‘s focus on what his team do with the ball countered by Andoni Iraola’s focus on his Bournemouth side’s out of possession work.
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Martin knows he needs to get a first Premier League win under his belt as soon as possible as the pressure will only mount the longer Southampton are winless.
Chris Sutton predicts Southampton will lose against AFC Bournemouth
Whilst Bournemouth have only beaten Everton, the flip side of this is that they have only lost to Chelsea and Liverpool.
Draws with Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United have left the Cherries on five points after five games and 13th in the table.
Southampton on the other hand are 19th with their one point and BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton does not think this will change on Monday night.
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That is because the former Blackburn Rovers striker has predicted a 2-0 Bournemouth win, commenting in his weekly BBC Sport predictions: “I can’t see past Bournemouth here. I actually think they carry a threat, even when they were being hammered in the first half against Liverpool.
“I just feel like they will have too much firepower for Southampton, who were desperately unlucky not to hold on and beat Ipswich last week.
“Saints are another team who desperately need that first win, but they are not getting it here.”
Southampton have to start scoring more goals in Premier League
Sutton’s verdict will disappoint Southampton fans but from what we have seen so far this season it is not an unreasonable prediction.
Perhaps most worrying is the fact Sutton predicts Bournemouth to keep a clean sheet, but again this is reflective of Southampton’s blunt attack this campaign.
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Martin has seen his side score just two league goals since promotion, with right-back Yukinari Sugawara and 18-year-old Tyler Dibling the only goal scorers.
This means none of the Saints’ strikers have scored a Premier League goal and this needs to change quickly if Southampton are to have any hope of staying in the division, starting against Bournemouth on Monday night.