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Following the addition of Danny Ings during the summer transfer window, Southampton manager Mark Hughes now has four – five if you include Sam Gallagher – decent striker options to choose from until the January transfer window.
Goalscoring has been a real issue for the south coast outfit over the course of the last two years, but they will hope that the extra competition for places spurs those that do get the nod in the starting XI to up their game and perform to an impressive standard every week.
While Hughes began the season utilising a formation with just the one striker, he has favoured playing two in the Premier League since the goalless draw against Burnley on the opening day at St Mary’s last month, with Shane Long and Danny Ings getting the nod against both Leicester City and Crystal Palace.
That has left Charlie Austin on the substitutes’ bench and Manolo Gabbiadini out of the 18-man squad altogether, with Long and Ings particularly effective in helping their team pick up their first win of the season against the Eagles last time out.
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With the former an injury doubt for the visit of Brighton and Hove Albion to St Mary’s on Monday night however, Hughes may well be forced to give another partnership a go, with Ings likely to be joined by either Austin or Gabbiadini given he has already netted twice in the top flight this term.
We asked Southampton fans to vote on our poll to see what their preferred strike partnership would be, and a whopping 77% said they would want to see Ings and Gabbiadini together – as you can see from the results below – with the next best option being just 13% for Ings and Long.