Assessing which 9-0 defeat was worse for Southampton

Southampton suffered the ultimate humiliation for the second time in two seasons as they were demolished 9-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

The Reds were relentless in their pursuit of goals and took full advantage of their personnel advantage as the Saints had two men sent off during the game, including debutant Alex Jankewitz after just 78 seconds.

This followed their embarrassing 9-0 defeat to Leicester in October 2019, where both Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Perez scored hat-tricks against Ralph Hasenhuttl's side.

But which of these heavy losses was the worst? Let's assess both games and take a look.

Prior Form

Going into the game at Old Trafford, Southampton were struggling. After a decent start to the season playing attractive football, Hasenhuttl's side had three wins in their last six games in all competitions but just one victory in their last eight Premier League matches.

They've been hit hard with injuries, with only 12 senior players fit ahead of the trip to Manchester, and it certainly had a part to play in the result.

Prior to the Leicester defeat in 2019, the form was arguable worse. In the nine Premier League games before that game the Saints had won just two, and lost three of their last four. They were sitting in 17th place in the table with just eight points and only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

Starting Lineup

Overall, seven players played in both fixtures just a year apart and that isn't including goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and striker Che Adams, who were unused substitutes the first time around.

Against United, Southampton were forced to play two academy players from the start due to injuries. With so many players out, it was a much changed team from the side that would usually start and Hasenhuttl was forced to name five teenagers and two goalkeepers as part of his substitutes bench.

Back in 2019, he didn't have those issues. He played a 3-5-2 system and had his first choice players available to choose from, making that performance even harder to comprehend.

In-game circumstances

So this is where we get to the bottom of the horrendous performances - the red cards.

Southampton's night was instantly made trickier thanks to the previously mentioned red card for young midfielder Jankewitz after 78 seconds for a reckless and dangerous thigh high challenge. What was more controversial, though, was the second red card of the night for Jan Bednarek.

The Polish defender was sent off in the 86th minute for tripping Anthony Martial, but the contact was minimal and he clearly pulls out of the challenge in anticipation of making contact. That said though, the penalty he conceded made it 7-0 in the 87th minute and they went on to concede another two in injury time.

Against Leicester, Ryan Bertrand got sent off after 12 minutes for a studs up challenge on Perez which the referee initially let go and the Foxes scored from the advantage. VAR pulled it back though and Bertrand was brandished with the red card, so Southampton were hit twice as hard. After that, they just crumbled and were poor as Leicester turned up the pressure.

Conclusion

A 9-0 defeat is always bad, no matter the circumstance or goings-on beforehand. But the most recent result is more understandable when taking everything into consideration.

A hatful of injuries, a 78 second red card, a dodgy second dismissal and playing against Manchester United at Old Trafford is a recipe for a disaster and that's what happened.

The defeat to Leicester was more of a freak result down to a poor mentality and performances of individual players when the going got tough. Even in the loss to United, the Saints had a goal ruled out for offside and missed a sitter through Adams.

Against Leicester though, they may as well have just not turned up.