Southampton recorded their biggest win of the season on Saturday, as they put five past Russell Martin’s former side Swansea City in a Boxing Day performance that will live long in the memory.
With Leeds United losing in the early kick-off, Southampton took their opportunity to move up to third in the table with the 5-0 win over Swansea.
Martin‘s side were incredibly efficient – something they have struggled with throughout the season – and were devastating in front of goal, scoring five from their 11 shots. The Saints also had four different goalscorers, with Joe Aribo netting the opener before goals from Sam Edozie, a brace from Ryan Fraser off the bench and a 93rd minute goal from fellow substitute Che Adams.
The win meant that Southampton have now won six home games in a row, conceding just two goals in the process, and takes their unbeaten run to 16 games. Martin’s side have not lost a game since 23rd September, which was the fourth game in a run of four consecutive defeats.
As highlighted by The Second Tier Podcast on ‘X’, after nine games Southampton had the worst defensive record in the Championship, having conceded 20 goals, but since then they have had the best defensive record in the league, conceding just nine goals in the 15 games.
Given Martin only left Swansea in the summer, there would have been fears regarding the south Wales club’s familiarity with his tactics. To negate this, Martin threw a real curveball with the team he selected.
What changes did Russell Martin make against Swansea?
Southampton fans were expecting to start to see more of their returning captain Jack Stephens this festive period following his absence through injury. What they were not expecting was to see Stephens deployed as a right-back, meaning that all three of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jan Bednarek and Stephens started in the win against Swansea.
This is testament to the form of both Harwood-Bellis and Bednarek, who have both delivered standout performances in recent weeks. Harwood-Bellis was imperious in the narrow win over QPR last weekend, whilst Bednarek showed he has become Southampton’s Mr. Reliable with his display in the 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers.
Martin clearly wanted to get his captain into the side somehow, but was conscious of disrupting the partnership that Harwood-Bellis and Bednarek have developed over the past three months. With Kamaldeen Sulemana injured since late November Southampton have limited natural wingers in the squad, so Martin decided to push this season’s star performer, Kyle Walker-Peters, forward to play as a right winger.
How good was Kyle Walker-Peters in advanced role?
Walker-Peters is known for his quality going forward from the full-back position, with his two goals and two assists this season demonstrating his prowess in the final third.
With that in mind, it makes sense that the ex-Tottenham Hotspur defender would be able to make the move further forward and operate as a winger. However, given it is not a role we have seen Walker-Peters perform at Southampton, combined with how influential the 26-year-old has been at full-back this season, it was a risk from Martin to change a winning formula.
Luckily for Martin and Southampton it was a risk that paid off emphatically. Walker-Peters was a constant threat to Swansea and having the defensive-minded Stephens behind him meant he could focus on providing the attacking threat without worrying so much about his defensive responsibilities.
The statistics tell the story of a successful experiment, with Walker-Peters having 51 touches and finishing the game was a pass completion rate of 92% according to Sofascore. The man capped twice by England also provided three key passes which was more than any other player, as well as having a shot on target.
His defensive abilities came in handy too despite his advanced position, as Walker-Peters won 80% of his duels, as well as making two tackles and one interception.
Whether Walker-Peters will resume the role in Southampton’s next game at home to Plymouth Argyle on Friday remains to be seen. With James Bree injured and Stephens unlikely to start two games in three days after a long absence it may be that Walker-Peters has to return to his usual right-back role, albeit through no fault of his own.
The move to play Walker-Peters further forward may also have been a subtle hint from Martin to his board that he needs a right winger in January, with the club having not replaced Nathan Tella following his £20 million summer departure to Bayer Leverkusen.
For Walker-Peters it is another string to his bow, with the defender already having excelled at both right and left-back this season.