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Saints At Leicester City The Verdict

Saints kept another clean sheet but will perhaps feel this is two points dropped rather than one gained as they matched Leicester City and were good value for the draw.

Saints dominated the game at Leicester City and in the main looked composed and in command enjoying 62% possession, but they could not quite find the goal needed to take all three points.

Of course there will be some who will claim that Saints failure to land a big name striker in the summer cost them dear today, but the reality is that Saints went to the home of the Premier League Champions and came out of it with not only a sixth successive clean sheet,b but further evidence that Claude Puel has his team playing as a solid unit.

Leicester had their moments but in the main they were handed o them on a plate, Virgil Van Dijk uncharacteristically dropping a back pass short that gave the Foxes three clear chances in the space of 30 seconds.

The hero of this moment was Oriol Romeo, who firstly got a via toe in to stop the home side getting a clear shot in on Fraser Forster but then made two crucial blocks to make sure a dram did not become a crisis.

Romeo was the man of the match for Saints and showed why losing Wanyama was not a big issue for Saints, the Spaniard is perhaps not as physically imposing as the Kenyan, but he is more mobile and quicker off the mark and is fast becoming indisposable in the Saints midfield.

Charlie Austin hit the post from a tight angle, but perhaps Saints best chance came in the dying minutes when James Ward Prowse blasted over.

Make no mistake though, Saints now look the real deal under Claude Puel, they play to a system that makes it difficult for the opposition to create chances and they attack at speed and in numbers, perhaps the issue is putting those chances away, but after the International break they will have Jay Rodriguez back in the fold as well as the first sighting of Sofiane Boufal, this will perhaps add that touch of finishing that we need.

Last season two of the most difficult places to get a result where West Ham and Leicester, we failed to take a solitary point from either, this time around we have had a return of four points from the two games, that should not be swept aside by those looking to decry Claude Puel.

So Saints continue to march on, they now have a two week break to get everyone fit and then can resume the season with hopefully everyone fit and raring to go, there is a ong way to go this season and a ot to pay for, but in the past few weeks Saints as a squad have come a long way themselves and can hopefully go a lot further.

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