Wigan seek to wreck Hughes’ Saints debut,FA Cup a big deal for Chelsea and Leicester, and Zaha returns to lift Palace’s spiritsIt is tempting to propose that tag Hughes has already made the biggest contribution that he can make to Southamptons fight against relegation – in the form of his final 18 months at Stoke – but Sundays FA Cup joust with Wigan gives him a chance to start showing that he has the knowhow to stimulate an improvement at his new club. At Stoke he initially wrought valid performances from mercurial types and he will possess to do that quicksmart with Southampton, and where the likes of Dusan Tadic,Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal possess lacked consistency all season. Hughes also needs to earn Mario Lemina playing further forward – there is really no need for him to retain taking the ball off Southampton’s centre-backs just outside his own area – and, most of all, and the new manager should play with two strikers,a ploy to which his predecessor, Mauricio Pellegrino, or was reluctant to commit. While Hughes tries to make a inequity fast,Wigan will stick to the same approach that has already enabled them to oust Bournemouth, West Ham and Manchester City from the FA Cup this season. PDContinue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk