Saints need to gain revenge on a pretty miserable return against Sunderland last year and in the process keep their good start of season going.

The big question abut Saints line up against Sunderland will firstly whether Ronald Koeman will consider Sadio Mane fit to start the game after only retuning to the UK late on Thursday evening, Koeman likes to keep people guessing and he might feel that this is an opportunity to give Shane Long a start and reserve Mane for the final stages of the game.

Another decision will be the centre of the midfield where Koeman has to decide whether the game will be about keeping the ball and attacking through a fast passing game or whether he will need to win the ball in the centre first.

If he chooses the former then he will perhaps opt to drop Wanyama to the bench and restore Jack Cork to the side, if its the later then Wanyama will continue in the role that he has excelled at throughout the season, however Koeman will pick a team to win the game and that's where slight changes to the line up happen.

Hopefully it will be another big crowd at St Mary's for a Saints side that is third in the league, certainly the team cannot so much more that they have so far to attract a sell out and they deserve maximum backing as they try to not only keep the good run going, but launch a genuine assault on a top six place.

If they are to do that then beating sides like Sunderland at home is crucial, with respect to the North East side, if we are to cement our place in the top ten for a second successive season then we have to win these games, last season we didn't win nought games against the mid table sides as we perhaps should have, correct that fault this season and it could be better than the last.

Football has that knack of kicking you in the balls when it all seems like it is going well, Saints fans more than most have suffered that feeling over the years, now is the time to make that big step forward.

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 11:04 - Oct 18 I happened to notice that the run of three games we are on (Spuds, today, Stoke) are teams that since our Prem return we have played 14 against and won none (15 now after the defeat the other week). Of course those stats are largely just a coincidence but it tells me that sides like these are ones we HAVE TO BEAT on a regular basis if we are to progress (as said in the article). We know that there are some big boys just over the horizon so anything other than a win today will be very deflating. I noticed from the predictions league just how many thought we wouldn't lose at Spurs. We need to build on that confidence - a couple more bad results and the doom-mongers will be predicting relegation...

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