Failure to beat Crystal Palace could be the end for Southampton

Eight more games. 720 minutes to prove that the watching world is right in their assessment of this group as lacking in quality and lacking in heart. Or eight more games to turn a rising and overwhelming tide.

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In the relegation zone since the first week of November and stuck bottom since Boxing Day, Saints have had one saving grace throughout this dismal campaign: time.

They no longer have that luxury.

Defeat to Manchester City on Saturday - while no surprise - just deepens a supremely troubling position. A relegation battle that once included as many as nine teams, now looks to be between four - at least in terms of who Saints can catch.

The current state of the relegation battle. (Image: Premier League)

With 23 points after 30 matches, Saints are staring down the barrel. The average points total needed to survive over the last decade has been 35. To reach that number Saints would need a further 12 points from their remaining eight fixtures, 1.5 points per game.

That in itself doesn’t sound impossible but Saints have averaged just 0.76 points per game this season and even under Ruben Selles - where there was a slight uptick in form (at least initially) - Saints have only averaged 1.0 points per game.

In order to survive, Saints are going to need to be better than they’ve been at any other period this season. Taking any sample of eight games from their failed Premier League campaign thus far and Saints are yet to hit 1.5 points per game.

The closest they got was between January 14 when they beat Everton 2-1 and March 12 when they drew at Old Trafford, collecting ten points in that eight-game run; 1.25 points per game.

And with Arsenal, Newcastle, Brighton, and Liverpool still to play - the first three of those away from home - this weekend’s clash with Crystal Palace feels seismic, quite possibly decisive.

Saints react to conceding against Man City. (Image: Stuart Martin)

Selles though remains calm and composed about his side’s chances. At least outwardly, that is. 

​​"I don't feel that it's additional pressure,” the Spaniard told the Daily Echo of Crystal Palace’s visit to St Mary’s on Saturday. 

“I think as I say from the very beginning for me the pressure here is a privilege and that this should be for all of us with the way we approach every game trying to win the three points and trying to make a good performance and it has not been different today. 

“We came here trying to win and to beat Manchester City and it's going to be the same against Crystal Palace. 

“What we need to do now is just be focusing on what we can do to evaluate the game, have a talk with the boys tomorrow, have some good talks during the week preparing for the next game and some of the training sessions and then go again."

For all the talk of processes and developing an identity, the harsh reality is that intangibles won’t help at this point. Survival is far from guaranteed even with victory against Crystal Palace. Without it…