Daniel Peretz

Peretz built his early reputation in the most pressurised setting a young goalkeeper can face, guessing correctly from the penalty spot when a shootout or a qualifying tie hung on it. That instinct for reading a penalty taker, watching the hips rather than the eyes, travelled with him from youth international football into his senior career. It is a specific skill, separate from shot stopping in open play.

The question at Southampton is whether that reputation converts into weekly reliability across a long Championship season. Shootout heroics and consistent number one status are simply not the same job, night after night. He needs to prove his handling and distribution hold up under crosses and quick transitions, rather than in isolated moments of high drama. Saints fans watching closely will judge him on the ordinary Tuesday nights, not just the penalties.