Southampton have been dealt a huge blow as Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed that Nathan Redmond is set to be out for up to two months.
Speaking to BBC Solent’s Adam Blackmore after Southampton’s 2-1 defeat to Burnley last weekend, Hasenhuttl said that Redmond will miss between one and two months with an injury.
Twitter: To make things worse, #SaintsFC boss Ralph Hasenhuettl told me Nathan Redmond set to be out for ‘1-2 months’ https://t.co/WsBPI5pX87 (@AdamBlackmore)
This means that there is a gap on the left side of Southampton’s attack, with Redmond having been a regular starter this season for the Saints. Sofiane Boufal started in that position against Burnley, but limped off with an injury – leaving Moussa Djenepo as the only natural wide option left fit.
Djenepo struggled against Burnley after coming off the bench, as he managed just one dribble and was dispossessed twice. But, could he still be the man to take Redmond’s place in the coming weeks?
His statistics throughout the season so far suggest that he has a chance. This season in the Premier League, Redmond and Djenepo both have a WhoScored rating of 6.78, with the former on three goals and one assist and the latter on two goals and one assist.
Djenepo has completed 2.4 dribbles per game and been fouled 1.6 times per game, whilst Redmond is on 2.3 and 0.7 respectively in those categories. This suggests that Djenepo’s dribbling could be an improvement on Redmonds ability with the ball at his feet.
Where Redmond does outperform Djenepo, though, is in terms of shots and chance creation. Redmond has averaged 1.8 shots and 1.1 key passes per game, whilst Djenepo is only averaging 1.1 and 0.4.
All in all, Djenepo could be a good replacement for Redmond based on his ability with the the ball at his feet.
However, he will need to improve his creative output in order to match the performances level that Redmond was playing at before his injury.
