Fulham FC — Fulham v Southampton — 6 January 2018

12 The Official Fulham FC Matchday Programme

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outhampton have made

it to four FA Cup Finals,

winning the trophy as a

second-tier side in 1976. The last

time Saints reached the Final

was in 2003 when they were

beaten by Arsenal in Cardiff.

Last season Southampton

defeated Norwich City after

a Third Round Replay before

crashing out 5-0 at home to

Arsenal in the next stage. Saints

were already Wembley bound by

then for the EFL Cup Final, which

they lost 3-2 to Manchester

United. In the Premier League,

Southampton finished eighth - a

fourth consecutive top-10 finish.

Last summer saw Saints

decide on a change of manager

with Claude Puel making way

for Argentine coach Mauricio

Pellegrino. Puel had been in

charge for just one season having

himself replaced Ronald Koeman

in June 2016.

Saints completed a record

signing for the second year

running with the arrival of

Juventus midfielder Mario

Lemina. Two new defenders

arrived at St Mary’s in the shape

of Poland international Jan

Bednarek from Lech Poznan

and Lazio centre-back Wesley

Hoedt. One notable departure

was that of striker Jay Rodriguez

who headed for West Bromwich

Albion. This month, defender

Virgil van Dijk completed an

eye-watering £75m switch to

Liverpool, a world record fee for

a defender.

Southampton started the season

with successive home games,

beating 10-man West Ham

United 3-2 in the latter. Saints

lost just once in the opening five

matches, during which they

recorded their only away win

to date with a 1-0 triumph at

Crystal Palace. However, a run of

just one win in nine games has

seen them slip to 17th.

Saints will need to improve in

the second half of the campaign

if they’re to achieve another top-

half finish.

Words: Bob Cain & Leigh Edwards

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