SAINTS have conceded more penalties this season than they did in the entirety of the Premier League last term.

Their progress has been hampered under new boss Claude Puel partly because they’ve conceded three penalties in as many matches, leaving them in the bottom three of the top flight at this early stage.

In stark comparison, in all 38 league games last term Saints conceded just one penalty.

That came in a 3-1 home win against Swansea when Gylfi Sigurdsson netted a 83rd-minute spot-kick.

But already that record is a distant memory.

Taking away the spot-kicks this term, and Puel’s men would have five valuable extra points on the board.

Jermain Defoe scored from the spot for Sunderland in the 1-1 home draw on August 27.

That came after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty that made it 2-0 to United in the defeat at Old Trafford.

The most recent – and the most dubious – penalty conceded came at Arsenal when Olivier Giroud was judged to have been fouled by Jose Fonte in the final throes at the Emirates Stadium with the score 1-1.

Santi Cazorla stepped up to consign Saints to a heartbreaking defeat.

It will be an issue Puel must address as he prepares his side for a decisive period – for the club and the Frenchman’s tenure in charge – of seven games in just 18 days.

The first chance to stop the rot will be tomorrow when Sparta Prague are at St Mary’s for the Europa League group opener.

German Manuel Grafe will be officiating the Group K match.

Interestingly, the Berlin-born official hasn’t awarded a penalty in his last four Europa League matches.

Although, in his last group stage game on English soil, he gave Besiktas an 89th-minute spot-kick, which Demba Ba converted in a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.

His last game in England was West Ham’s defeat to Romanian side Astra Giurgiu at the London Stadium.

Grafe waved play-on as Ashley Fletcher was downed by Filipe Teixeira as Slaven Bilic’s side were eliminated from the Europa League.

Saints will be also hoping to be on better form at the opposite end of the pitch, where they are experiencing problems.

So far only Nathan Redmond and Jay Rodriguez have found the net, while Dusan Tadic’s free-kick against Arsenal went down as an own goal by Gunners keeper Petr Cech.

Their finishing has left much to be desired this term, with a few notable chances squandered by Shane Long.

Puel will be hoping his side find their form in front of goal, with Long and Charlie Austin particularly under pressure to start finishing off chances.