Ivan Juric must be sweating after weird stat emerges from Brighton match | OneFootball

Southampton and Brighton's respective expected-goals stats paint a true picture of the eventual 4-0 result.

It's pretty clear that Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jan Bednarek are the only defenders who have set some good standards at Southampton. With both of them, the Saints saw some brief defensive stability but now they get walked over by their opponents during their combined absence.

That being said, it could become even worse if Southampton loses their centre-back pairing over the summer. Still, the club's primary focus should be to end the season on a slightly positive note.

Talking about short-term, the Saints have their work cut out to counterbalance their frailing backline. Relying on the attackers must be the way forward but Juric wouldn't feel much confident in that regard.

Ivan Juric must be sweating after weird stat emerges from Brighton match

That's because iNews journalist Daniel Storey has sounded out an unsurprisingly weird stat from Southampton's 4-0 home loss. Writing in his column, Daniel Storey said: "Another four goals conceded, another superbly damning xG scoreline: Southampton 0.13-4.01 Brighton."

First of all, such a steep expected-goals gap is rare to find in the Premier League. Yet, such is Southampton's misfortune that they can't even argue against these figures.

Noticing carefully, the numbers rightfully justify the resulting outcome with Brighton scoring four unanswered goals against the Saints. As a matter of fact, the visitors could have comfortably outperformed their stats had Ramsdale not come to the host's rescue.

Regarding the front three, Archer, Dibling and Sulemana were often longing for passes near their way. Even when they received some of them, Brighton's defence seldom let the trio attempt any considerable shots.

Hence, there is enough room for improvement if the forwards follow Juric's constructive feedback. Unfortunately, the season is quickly running out and the team can't manage to oversee poor results any further.

Will Southampton take this stat as an important learning, let's see.