Ugarte makes debut in Saints win

Goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford had put Erik ten Hag’s side into a comfortable position at St Mary’s Stadium, which we’d later improve on through Alejandro Garnacho’s injury-time effort.

The Dutchman took advantage of our lead to introduce Ugarte, who prior to the match he’d pointed out had only been involved in a couple of training sessions with his new team-mates.

The 23-year-old completed his move from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day and was involved for Uruguay in their FIFA World Cup qualifier, starting in goalless draws with Paraguay and Venezuela.

During the international break, Ugarte won 20 duels for his nation – something Ten Hag will be hoping to see more of as the season progresses.

After being introduced in place of Christian Eriksen on 73 minutes, Ugarte looked dynamic in his first match for the Reds, making a successful tackle on Southampton forward Ross Stewart as he bore down on goal.

According to Opta data, the midfielder touched the ball 17 times and completed all 13 of his passes.

He also regained possession on three occasions and was involved in Garnacho’s goal, passing to Casemiro who threaded the ball forward for Diogo Dalot to set up the Argentinian.

“It’s good that we could bring him and he shows us straight what he brings,” Ten Hag told TNT. “Control in midfield, good interceptions, very aggressive but also on the ball composed.

“He keeps the game going, links us back and forward so I think the first impressions were very good.”