It's been a disastrous start for Saints upon their return to the Premier League, but a win at Bournemouth tonight can see them move out of the relegation zone, after the results over the weekend.
It was a mixed set of results for Southampton over the weekend in terms of their relegation rivals.
Only Everton of the 6 clubs in the bottom 8 won, the Toffees beating Crystal Palace who dropped into the bottom 3, Wolves remained rock bottom after losing at home to Liverpool and Leicester almost got a point at Arsenal after coming back from 2-0 down, only to concede an injury time goal to go down 3-2.
West Ham remain in trouble, but their point at Brentford means that we cannot catch them even with a win this evening, just above them are Bournemouth who go into tonight's game looking over their shoulder.
Sitting on 7 points are Manchester United & Brentford, with the Bee's one of those clubs who could find themselves dropping down the table if they are not careful.
But for Southampton these results mean that a win at the Vitality this evening will take them out of the bottom 3, they would jump above Crystal Palace, Leicester City & Everton, the latter on goal difference.
A three goal win would see them also leapfrog Ipswich Town on goal difference and that would really make the table look good.
A win at Bournemouth this evening would be a pivotal moment in the season, it would give us hope, but more to the point it would see the relegation battle opened out, the bottom 8 clubs would all be within 2 points of Palace in 18th place and even Brentford and Manchester United would be a little worried.
But we have to first get that win, if we draw it would be a step forward, but we would still be second from bottom, defeat would also perhaps be a pivotal moment for Saints, it could spell the end of Russell Martin as manager.