Leeds United prediction, Raphinha reminder and big danger at Southampton - David Prutton

Leeds United should have a really good chance of making it six points out of six for the new season so far at Southampton, certainly going by what we saw against Wolves.
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Jesse Marsch's side showed resilience and quality in last weekend's 2-1 win against Bruno Lage's team, all in front of a great Elland Road crowd as ever that was always going to be the case.

It was just a really good start to the season for Leeds whereas Southampton got pumped 4-1 by Spurs.

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It took Leeds seven games last season until they actually got a win but now it's one out of one and I see no reason whatsoever why they can't go and turn Southampton over.

DANGER MAN: Southampton captain and set piece specialist James-Ward Prowse. Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.DANGER MAN: Southampton captain and set piece specialist James-Ward Prowse. Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.
DANGER MAN: Southampton captain and set piece specialist James-Ward Prowse. Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.

You can't base a season on one game but given how long it took them to get up and running last year and that very nervy end to the season, to be able to chalk off that first win against a rival in that position as in bottom two thirds, it's just the perfect start.

You had debutants playing very, very well and established heroes returning and looking fully fit and so it was huge really and the perfect start to a season that we know is going to be long and testing to say the least.

Hopefully for Leeds they want to roller-coaster through it but ultimately enjoy it.

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Southampton have conceded 34 goals in their last 13 games and they are now fourth favourites to go down but it's an odd one as we have seen before that they are capable of decent performances.

But they are also capable of winless runs which can really take the edge off the season.

Ralph Hasenhuttl is a manager that other teams have coveted at times and Southampton are an established Premier League force.

We can't dismiss that because of what they've done since they got back into the top division, something that Leeds could do well to emulate I'd say.

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I'd be intrigued to see what kind of Southampton appears over the course of this season and whether Ralph is in it for the long haul.

James Ward-Prowse is also superb for Southampton and he scored at Tottenham last weekend although obviously not from a free-kick.

He's a superb player, a good captain, a good all round player and I've always found him to be a good person.

I've got a lot of time for the type of player that he is.

Southampton have also got muscular threats upfront but whether it's a good time to play them based on their accumulative run either side of the break and the form that they are in, we will soon see.

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But I don't think Leeds can do anything less or approach it in any less way that they would for the first game of the season because we all knew how tough Wolves were going to be.

They were without Raul Jimenez up top but, on the flip side, it's the team in front of you that you have got to beat and another three points against Southampton would definitely be most welcome.

Brenden Aaronson was the one who really shone for Leeds against Wolves and maybe he can be this season's star, this season's Raphinha if you like.

That is a huge ask but with the greatest respect did we know too much about Raphinha before he rocked up? No, not really.

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Having seen what Brenden can do and the type of player that he has been for a long time, he has got a good working relationship with Jesse Marsch so that's a great position to be in to get the best out of him.

And what he has shown so far is a tenacity, quality on the ball and he seems to fit right in with Leeds being a high energy team in a high energy league.

The winner against Wolves went down as an own goal rather than Aaronson's but he was still forcing the issue within the type of area that can really disrupt an opposition.

As a base point to start at, his first impression has been very very good and it's up to him to maintain and push on his standards and his overall input into the game.

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But he is a player that immediately caught the eye when I watched him several years ago because he was young, he looked like he actually cared and he was tearing around a football pitch which, without simplifying what Leeds United fans want, it's pretty much two of the biggest things - look like you care and work your socks off.

The fact that he is also very, very good on a football really does help.

Jesse Marsch can welcome back four more players this weekend as Liam Cooper, Luis Sinisterra and Adam Forshaw return from injury in addition to Dan James coming back from suspension and I would have thought they would all be on the bench.

The thing is with Leeds, they have let go of Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha for substantial amounts of money but overall, I think the depth and the breadth of the squad is better.

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That's not denigrating what those two players have done because they were wonderful for Leeds, Kalvin more so you would have to say.

But Leeds needed to make sure that the squad carried more quality and depth which at the outset and from first looks and first impressions, seems to be the case.

Obviously time will tell whether we get stuck into a Premier League season and injuries and suspensions kick in and people come in and don't quite perform.

But on paper, which football is absolutely not played on, potentially from the outset they have got a season that isn't looking Everest like.

It's looking like a bloody big mountain but one that isn't insurmountable.