Premier League: Put the Southampton eulogies on hold

Graziano Pelle has gone five Southampton games without scoring

Michael Lintorn is adamant that punters shouldn't overanalyse Southampton's recent dip in form...

Southampton have embarked upon a series of unwanted firsts: first three-match winless streak of 2014/15, first successive defeats of the Ronald Koeman era and first two-game run without scoring.

Heading into November's international break, they were second in the Premier League, a mere four points off leaders Chelsea, four clear of Man City and seven superior to everybody else.

A draw and two losses later, the Blues are out of sight ten points away, Man City have surged seven ahead and the chasing pack have done much of their running, with four clubs within three points of the Saints, including the Man United side who visit St Mary's on Monday priced at 2.77/4 for the win.

The conclusion of those who have been waiting four months for Southampton to fail is that they were in a false position obtained via a combination of the siege mentality that a summer of sales and being told that they were relegation contenders ignited and an unintimidating set of fixtures. Now that they are facing the division's elite on a frequent basis, they are supposedly being found out.

However, there are some numbers which are arguably even more significant than the firsts already mentioned. There's three - the number of defeats that they have suffered in their last 16 outings in all competitions, with those occurring against top-six finishers Tottenham, Man City and Arsenal.

How about 11 - the number of victories enjoyed in their previous 15 encounters regardless of the recent three-match hiccup? Victims include Arsenal at the Emirates in the Capital One Cup, West Ham at the Boleyn (the Irons earned 13 points from 15 there since), Swansea at the Liberty Stadium (their sole home reverse) and Newcastle 4-0 at St Mary's (the Magpies have lost two in 13 since).

You could even chuck in 88 - how many minutes they were Arsenal's equals if not superiors last time out before an injury-forced reduction to ten men fused with Olivier Giroud's impact off the bench for the hosts to see them conquered in the closing minutes.

The most important digit of all is 26 - the points that they have gathered from a mere 14 games. It is four more than at this stage last season, when they comfortably achieved a top-eight ranking despite winning an unspectacular nine of their closing 27 clashes.

So even if they are beaten by Man United - as the Opta stats hint is reasonably likely - it won't alter their status as serious top-six challengers, as reflected by odds of 1.774/5. Indeed, until the moment when teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton start performing with something approaching consistent quality, their top-four finish candidacy shouldn't be dismissed either at 4.03/1.