da bet sport： New Southampton manager Mark Hughes knows he has a big task on his hands in the run-in to the season, starting with trying to help the club reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup when they face Wigan Athletic on Sunday.
da pixbet： Whether they achieve that or not, attentions will quickly turn back to the Premier League, with a 3-0 defeat against fellow strugglers Newcastle United at St James’ Park last Saturday signalling the end of Mauricio Pellegrino’s reign at St Mary’s, and meaning they have won just one of their previous 17 top flight matches.
That dreadful run of form has left them just one point above the relegation zone with eight league games remaining – five of those come away from home while they also have to host Chelsea and Manchester City on their own patch.
The south coast outfit pulled off something of a coup when they signed Mario Lemina in a then club-record deal from Juventus in August, and he is player that Hughes will be familiar with as he also tried to bring him to England when he was Stoke City boss last summer.
The Gabon international, who was linked with a move to Liverpool earlier this month, has struggled with injury and was in and out of the side at times under Pellegrino, but he has also shown the qualities that he has on the ball with his passing accuracy and number of dribbles he has successfully completed – 88.5% and 49 from 54 attempts – in 22 Premier League appearances, according to WhoScored.com.
Hughes must look to build his team around the talented 24-year-old, who was taken off at half-time at St James’ Park following an uncharacteristically poor display, in the next couple of months, in order to try and give Southampton the best chance of securing their Premier League status for at least another year.
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