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Jose Mourinho must focus on nullifying this Southampton duo at St Mary’s – opinion

Danny Ings has been lighting up the Premier League of late and giving Southampton a real shot at survival with his 12 goals so far this season. Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur side are the next to face the Saints, and in order to prevent Ings from disrupting their New Year celebrations, Spurs must stop Ings at source. That means nullifying James Ward-Prowse, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s most creative player.

Ward-Prowse is Southampton’s joint-top assist provider in the Premier League this season, and he is also their second-highest scorer, as he possesses a deadly threat from set-pieces. Furthermore, no Southampton player averages more key passes than his 1.6 per game, and of all the Saints players who average over 40 passes per game, only Jan Bednarek has a higher pass accuracy. It is evident most of the New Years day host play will come through the 25-year-old Englishman.

One way for Spurs to stop him from exerting an influence on proceedings would be to get either Tanguy Ndombele or Moussa Sissoko to man-mark him. Either Frenchman could make sure they spend to game tracking the Southampton midfielder, preventing him from receiving the ball in time and space, leaving Ings with nothing but scraps to feed off.

Alternatively, Mourinho could get his midfield duo to double up whenever Ward-Prowse receives possession. As soon as the Saints playmaker has the ball, the pair could immediately pressurise him in the hope of either forcing the Englishman into a mistake or recovering possession through a tackle. Both midfielders should have enough discipline positionally to fulfil the role. Still, if Mourinho wanted to opt for a safer option, he could swap in Eric Dier who has a more defensive mindset.

Whichever route the Portuguese manager chooses to go he will need to find some way of stopping Ward-Prowse and ultimately Ings. Both are the two most threatening assets at Hasenhuttl’s disposal and keeping the pair quiet is the key to making sure the Saints don’t provide an upset as they did against Chelsea on Boxing Day.

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