Saints’ goalscoring woes are laid bare by statistics which show they have had the third most shots in the Premier League this season – but only bottom of the table Huddersfield have scored fewer goals.

Mark Hughes’ team have managed an impressive 146 shots over the course of their ten games so far. Only Manchester City and Manchester United can boast more.

However, their woeful conversion rate has seen them net just six times in the league this campaign. Only the rock bottom Terriers have been more ineffective in front of goal with four goals scored.

Hughes has insisted that given the number of shots Saints are taking, and chances they are creating, that things will turn around, but shooting accuracy rather than total shots is a possible concern.

Of the 146 Saints have taken only 44 have been on target. They are 12th in the Premier League rankings for shots on target compared to third for total shots.

When you compare that to the opposition in their ten games thus far, there is another revealing aspect.

While Saints have had 146 shots their opponents have had 131, but Saints have actually had fewer shots on target than their opponents – 46 compared to 44.

The average of where they are taking their shots from places them in midtable on every count – 6.6 per game from outside the box, 0.8 from inside the six yard box and 7.3 from inside the penalty area.

Depending on how you read it, the argument can either be made that it’s a very well balanced attacking method, or that it is without a particular focus to score goals.

In terms of how they fared in the individual matches they have played, there is a fairly consistent pattern.

Leaving aside for one moment the matches against Liverpool and Chelsea, in which you would expect that Saints would suffer in terms of a comparison for shots and shots on target, it makes revealing reading.

In all but two of those other eight games – which have yielded just one victory - they have had more shots than their opponents.

Bournemouth away, a 0-0 draw, was very close and went the other way by one shot.

Oddly, the other occasion they were down on that count was at Crystal Palace, the game which brought them their only league win of the season so far.

However, only in the games against Brighton, Bournemouth and Newcastle have Saints managed more shots on target than their opponents.

Of course, statistics don’t tell the entire story of a team, of individual matches or incidents.

They can show general patterns and while they may not come as much of a surprise to those who have watched Saints this season, there are surely lessons to be drawn.