As supporters filtered out of St Mary's Stadium on Saturday afternoon, disbelief was etched on all of the Red and White Army's faces, with Southampton having let a two-goal lead slip to fellow newly promoted side Leicester.
2-0 up going into the last half-an-hour, a capitulation left all inside the stadium stunned. Facundo Buananotte, Jamie Vardy and Jordan Ayew all scored as Leicester stole three points from Southampton's grasp.
So, a trip to the reigning champions is up next you say, with an Erling Haaland who has not scored in three games, what could possibly go wrong...
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Head down the 'free hit' road:
Just because they take on Manchester City, that does not mean Russell Martin will prepare any differently, but if the Saints are going to take even a point from the Etihad, every single player needs to churn out a 8/10 performance, minimum.
Southampton have already been away to one of the 'big boys' this season, taking the lead away at the Emirates before eventually succumbing to a 3-1 defeat.
These are the games that Southampton fans will feel that anything other than a defeat is a bonus, but it is also the games in which stranger things have happened.
The Cityzens home form, however, is nigh on impenetrable, having not lost in the Premier League at the Etihad since November 2022, when an Ivan Toney double - including a 90th minute winner - put City to the sword.
To put that into context, England have competed in two international tournaments, Oasis have reformed, and City themselves have won five trophies, including a historic treble. The task at hand could not be much harder.
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Find Consistency, quickly:
Something that has been a theme of Southampton's season so far is a stark lack of consistency.
In the first two league matches of the season, Martin named an unchanged side, however, at least one change has hit the starting XI in each of the following six league encounters.
The Saints boss has named thirty-six different players in matchday squads this season in all competitions. For example, in the Saints' last three league matches, Martin has deployed three different systems, a 4-5-1 in the home loss to Leicester, a 5-4-1 in the Arsenal defeat and a 4-2-3-1 set up in the away loss to Bournemouth.
The lack of continuity within the Saints' line-ups makes blossoming relationships near-impossible, something evident from their first eight league games.
So, there will be a prize for guessing who is in the Saints' side this weekend, with even the ever-present Yukinari Sugawara hobbling off against Leicester, so it is not within the realms of possibility that we will see another changed Saints side.
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Sorry Set Piece Statistics:
So much this season already has been made on the importance of set-pieces this season - both scoring and conceding. For the Saints, conceding set-pieces has been an Achilles heel that has just not gone away.
10 of the 18 goals conceded by Southampton have been from set pieces, including the late goal against Leicester, to which Jordan Ayew could not believe his luck.
Harry Winks stood over a corner and played the ball to the edge, where Jordan Ayew was waiting in acres of space, having the freedom of Southampton to slot the ball home for a late winner.
The Leicester forward simply could not believe how much space he was given by the Saints, begging the question, why are Russell Martin's side just one of eight sides without a dedicated set-piece coach?
Their coach from last term Andreas Georgson left for Manchester United who, ironically, helped score two set pieces in the 3-1 win at St Marys earlier this season.
The blueprint is there for Manchester City, but stranger things have happened in the Premier League, and Southampton will be hoping they could cause the mother of all upsets on Saturday.
