What does Ronald Koeman have up his sleeve for the visit of Stoke City as Saints go into a three game programme that will help define their season.
Saints start an important section of the season with three games in the space of nine days and two of them are against Stoke City, by the end of it Saints season will have either taken off it big style or will merely be very good.
But first us is Stoke City and Ronald Koeman will be mindful that the Capital Cup game on Wednesday is perhaps just as important so will need to use his squad wisely.
Therefore changes will be at a minimum I suspect, what is becoming clear is that Koeman has clear ideas about how he wants to set his team up, but he is also aware of its need to adapt to the opposition sometimes, therefore he will make small tweaks where necessary.
In the main the defence is settled so that usually means how we set up in midfield be it central or out wide, the injury to James Ward Prowse has meant his options are slightly less than he had at the start of the season, so usually the main question will be whether he considers that we need the combative Wanyama in or whether the game is more about possession in that area of the park and therefore Cork or Davis will be better placed for that type of game.
Perhaps the only other decision will then be whether to restore Mane to the side or stick with Shane Long, although most Saints fans would say play Mane, there is perhaps more to the question than simply who seems the most exciting player, if that was the only question then it would be Long, but Koeman knows that we have a tough run ahead of us, so might feel that Long's work rate against a methodical Stoke side might be better suited and that Mane might be better saved for the cup tie at Stoke in midweek.
That is the beauty of this season, it is hard to second guess Koeman, he has a core side, but he has the players to make subtle changes to its playing style and he is not afraid to make those changes, this approach has meant that players are not only kept fresh, but unlike last season are kept involved.
With this in mind I would not be surprised if Koeman through in the odd surprise tomorrow. perhaps bringing in Gardos or even Matt Targett, or even giving Morgan Schneiderlin a rest, Koeman will know that certain players have played every game and not only does he need to give them a break, but keep their potential replacements like Gardos sharp.
The problem Koeman has with doing this is that with such a great start to the season he will want to keep the momentum going, but he will also know that keeping everyone interested is the key to success.
But his biggest problem against the Potters is keeping everyone focused after the drubbing of Sunderland, as we know from bitter experience at Saints, after a great win often comes a great fall and Koeman has to guard from complacency, it will be easy for Saints to run out tomorrow with the feeling that they are invincible and then get hit with a sucker punch, Koeman's job is to make sure that doesn't happen and perhaps the odd unexpected change or two might help with that.
But Saints fans will be looking forward to this game with anticipation, the goals against Sunderland will have whetted their appetite, they sense that this season is panning out in a positive way after the trials of the summer and as i said at the start of this article this is perhaps the most vital nine days of it, keep our good form going and we will be well placed not only in the League but the cup as well..
Stoke arrive at SMS like Sunderland as a team who we haven't beaten since we returned to the Premier, four draws have seen us unlucky in some games but we are better placed and equipped to beat them than in the previous two seasons.
Although Stoke are less physical than they were under Tony Pulis they are still a side who are strong in the air and the key for Saints will be winning that batttle, veteran ex Saints striker Peter Crouch has scored on both of his return visits to St Mary's with Stoke and will be keen to make it a third.
Crouch who will be 34 in January is enjoying a good spell at Stoke and has scored twice in the Premier League this season and his record at Stoke is perhaps as good as any other period since he left St Mary's in the summer of 2005, ironically that year at St Mary's remains his best ever Premier League season in terms of a goals per game and in the decade since he has never bettered that ratio.
So Saints task is clear, make sure that Stoke don't get to impose their aerial threat on us and secondly keep the ball on the deck so that their defenders don't have an easy day of it just heading out crosses and long balls.
Under Koeman that is not likely to happen though, he has the nous to change the game if Stoke are combating plan A with ease, on paper this game should suit us going forward, we tend to attack at speed and keep the ball on the ground, even though Pelle is tall and can win a ball or two in the air, he is also quick on the ground and add Tadic, Long & Mane into that equation, not to mention our overlapping full backs and Stoke have more to fear from us than we them.
However as the old cliche goes, football is not played on paper but on grass and many the team has come unstuck when a big victory was expected, perhaps that will be the case on Saturday at St Mary's but if it is at least we will know that unlike some defeats last season we havent just banged our heads against a brick wall for 90 minutes.
Key players will be our central defenders, Stoke's aerial threat not just from Crouch but from the likes of Ryan Shawcross and Marc Wilson who will be up in our box for set pieces is very real, we need to be at our best, so far we havent had much of a test at the back in this way, tomorrow we will need to be strong at the back in the air.