3 players in top 5; Southampton dominate Premier League in defensive area

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Southampton dominate the Premier League in a key defensive area. Not only do they top as a team but have three players in the top five.

Southampton are having a fine season, sitting fourth in the Premier League after eight games. They’re unbeaten in six, too, and looking like a fine team overall.

Things looked worrisome when Danny Ings picked up an injury but the Saints rebounded to comfortably beat Newcastle United.

And a little look into Premier League stats gives us an idea of how they’re doing it. That’s because Southampton dominate the Premier League when it comes to recovering loose balls.

They lead the league as a team with 879 over their eight games (per FBref) – one place ahead of Liverpool, who have won 841. But it’s more than that.

Southampton have three players in the top five for the division. Oriol Romeu tops the table with 125, Jan Bednarek is fourth, and James Ward-Prowse is fifth.

For comparison, Liverpool have only one player in the top 15.

It’s a result of excellent pressing. The Saints are third in the league for number of presses in the middle, and 7th for the final third. Their success rate is fantastic, too, good enough for fourth behind 3rd-place Liverpool.

That pressing is excellent and forces teams into poor passes. Poor passes mean more loose balls – and Southampton are better than anyone at collecting them.

They have a clear defensive strategy, then, and one that is working fantastically well this season. Keep this up and there’s no reason Southampton can’t threaten the European spots this season.