EFL

Che Adams silences Sheffield Wednesday supporters as Southampton start in style

By Sports Desk August 04, 2023

Che Adams climbed off the bench to score a late winner for Southampton on their Sky Bet Championship return and silence taunts of the Sheffield Wednesday fans.

Adams entered the pitch to a chorus of boos due to his association with Sheffield United but eight minutes later he was celebrating scoring the 87th-minute goal that earned the Saints a 2-1 victory at Hillsborough.

It had looked like the Saints, back in the second tier for the first time in over a decade following last season’s Premier League relegation, would endure a frustrating evening as for large parts they failed to turn possession into goal threat.

They had gone ahead early on through Adam Armstrong’s goal – deflecting in Nathan Tella’s shot – and were in total control at half-time, setting a new Championship record for the most number of passes in 45 minutes as they completed 477.

But they were pegged back after the break when Lee Gregory scored for the newly-promoted hosts from a set-piece and the visitors struggled to find a cutting edge.

But Adams’ late introduction changed the course of the game, sweeping home from close range to give Russell Martin a win in his first game in charge as the Saints, whose squad may yet be weakened before the end of the month, laid down an early marker.

Wednesday opened this Football League campaign just 67 days after bringing the curtain down on last season with their League One play-off final at Wembley, but it has been a turbulent time since.

Manager Darren Moore surprisingly left while chairman Dejphon Chansiri used Xisco Munoz’s unveiling press conference to publicly berate former midfielder Carlton Palmer amid fan unrest at spiralling ticket prices.

And things did not start well on the pitch as Southampton took early control, going ahead in just the eighth minute.

To the naked eye, it looked like Tella had scored the first goal of the campaign in style as he cut inside on his left foot and sent a curling effort into the far corner.

But replays showed his shot glanced Armstrong on the way through and the striker was credited with the goal.

It was total Saints domination as James Ward-Prowse, one of those linked with a move away this month, forced Cameron Dawson into a smart low save while Carlos Alcaraz was just off target with a shot from the edge of the area.

Having been robbed of the goal, Tella tried his best to remedy it and went close with a similar effort that was deflected just over the crossbar.

Callum Patterson was then forced to come to Wednesday’s rescue from the resulting corner as he cleared Jack Stephens’ effort off the line.

It did not take much for the hosts to improve after the break and they levelled nine minutes after the restart as Gregory fired home from Akin Famewo’s header back across goal from Barry Bannan’s corner.

The Saints continued to enjoy almost exclusive ownership of the ball but were restricted to long distance efforts, with Stuart Armstrong twice threatening the goal.

Just as it looked like they might have to settle for a point, Adams had the last laugh by tucking home Ward-Prowse’s centre and the Saints saw out nine minutes of stoppage time to post victory.

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    Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo expressed his pride in seeing compatriot Ryan Gravenberch show off his qualities ‘to the whole world’ after a fine start to the Premier League season.

    Though the Netherlands pair did not become teammates at Liverpool until late summer of 2023, Gakpo knew well Gravenberch’s talents from their respective Eredivisie spells with PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.

    Now in his second season at Anfield, Gravenberch has drawn widespread plaudits for his form in a new deeper-lying midfield role under new head coach Arne Slot, having largely been used as a substitute under Jurgen Klopp.

    Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's big-five leagues to both make 30+ tackles (30) and 30+ interceptions (33) in all competitions this season, and Gakpo insisted that his Netherlands team-mate can continue to go from strength to strength, starting against Southampton this Sunday.

    “We [the Dutchmen at Liverpool] knew Ryan already from the Eredivisie when he played at Ajax, and I think everybody knew already that he is this good,” Gakpo recently told Men in Blazers.

    “After that, he made a move to Bayern Munich, and maybe he didn’t play that much over there, but still everybody in Holland knew how good he could be when he was playing.

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    Southampton, meanwhile, welcome the Reds to St. Mary’s on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Wolves ahead of the international break, leaving them bottom of the table after 11 games of the season.

    The Saints are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this season (seven), while only Crystal Palace (5.1%) have a lower shot conversion rate than Russell Martin’s side (6.2%). Just 30.1% of Southampton’s shots have been on target this term (34/113), a league-low ratio.

    However, the Southampton head coach is relishing the opportunity of facing Liverpool, with his players performing well against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City already this term.

    "I'm really excited about Sunday. We're playing the best team in the country at the moment, on their current form and what they have been doing with their manager, built on an incredible foundation from the previous manager, so I'm really looking forward to it,” Martin said.

    "I think we showed the guys the Premier League table last season and how much it changed by the end and by the end of December. But it's honestly such an exciting month.

    "People talk about the difficulty of the game and every competition we face in the next four or five games, but it's what we all worked so hard for. We should be excited about the challenge.  

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    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Southampton – Mateus Fernandes

    Fernandes has become a mainstay in the Southampton team, starting the last eight Premier League games in a row, and has been one of Martin’s standout performers in a lacklustre start to the campaign.

    In the Saints’ 2-0 defeat to Wolves last time out, the Portuguese contributed a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.22 from his three shots, while only Yukinari Sugawara (10) and Flynn Downes (12) have created more chances in the top-flight than Fernandes (eight) this season.

    Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

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    He has also been directly involved in 67% of Liverpool’s Premier League goals this season (14/21 – eight goals, six assists), the highest ratio by a player for any side in the division in 2024-25. Indeed, only Matt Le Tissier for Southampton in 1993-94 (69% - 34/49) has scored or assisted a higher proportion of a side’s goals in a single season in the competition.

    MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

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    The Reds’ last Premier League game against the Saints was a 4-4 away draw in May 2023 – they conceded as many goals in that game as they had in their previous six visits to St Mary’s combined.

    Southampton have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (D3 L10), a 1-0 home victory in January 2021.

    This will also be the first Premier League match between the side starting the day bottom of the table and the side starting the day top since April 2023, and Southampton’s 3-3 draw away to Arsenal. The league leaders are unbeaten in 14 such matches (W12 D2) since Wolves won 2-1 against Manchester United in February 2011.

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    But Martin’s side have lost nine of their 11 Premier League games this season (W1 D1). Only seven sides in English top-flight history have reached 10 defeats in 12 or fewer matches from the start of a campaign, with all seven going on to be relegated.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Southampton – 9.7%

    Draw – 12.6%

    Liverpool – 77.7%

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    Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition. 

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