Pep Guardiola has an extremely fond memory of St Mary’s Stadium. It was here on the final day of the 2017-18 season that he watched Gabriel Jesus score a stoppage-time winner to ensure Manchester City finished as the Premier League champions with a record 100-point haul.
It was a number at the opposite end of the spectrum that provided a prominent sub-plot this time. Southampton kicked off on 11 points, level with the all-time lowest haul by a team in the competition – that collected with apologies by Derby in 2007-08. Could Southampton, who had suffered so much, get something to lift them clear of the unwanted association?
