Southampton's differing form has diverted from the highly successful form of one player in particular at St. Mary's, as full-back Cédric Soares racks up award as Player of the Month for November having beat a number of team-mates.
The 26 year-old was in contention for the prize alongside currently prolific forward Charlie Austin, rejuvenated midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and fellow defender Ryan Bertrand.
Cédric has been a reliable servant to Mauricio Pellegrino this season having started in the majority of the club's Premier League fixtures; in fact, the right-back has only been absent from one top-flight outing in the 2017/18 campaign and that was the recent away draw to south coast rivals AFC Bournemouth.
Other than that, he had started every game of last month - the back-to-back defeats to Burnley and Liverpool, before the success at home over Everton but ended November on a low following the last minute defeat to league leaders Manchester City.
''It’s my first time for Southampton''
Cédric took over the reigns of the Player of the Month from October man Steven Davis and it is the full-back's first time winning the accolade since joining the Saints in the summer of 2015, and this is what he had to say on receiving the prize, ''I’m very happy because it means the fans are always supporting us as a team and in this case me as well.''
He also went onto mention the importance on the victory against then-strugglers Everton towards the end of last month after a run of two straight defeats; “The team had a very good reaction. I want to mention the game against Everton. I think all the staff, the team and the fans were together; we are much stronger like this.
Mauricio Pellegrino's men suffered three losses out of four in November but continue to sit mid-table in the Premier League with Southampton lying 11th on 17 points.