Jannik Vestergaard 8, Che Adams 7; Phil Jagielka 7, Sander Berge 4: Southampton v Sheffield United player ratings

Southampton striker Che Adams scored against his former club as the Saints beat Premier League strugglers Sheffield United 3-0 at St Mary's Stadium on Sunday to go third in the table. Midfielders Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond struck after the interval to leave Chris Wilder's side in dire straights at the foot of the table with just one point from 12 games. Southampton dominated possession and went ahead on 34 minutes as the Blades failed to properly deal with a James Ward-Prowse free kick and Adams reacted quickest to tap home his fourth league goal of the season in front of 2,000 supporters. Armstrong doubled the home side's lead in the second half with a low shot that gave Blades goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale no chance as it took a big deflection off defender Phil Jagielka and rolled into the net. Substitute Redmond scored his first goal of the season seven minutes from time with a side-footed finish following an exchange with midfielder Oriol Romeu to heap the pressure on Wilder's side who clearly lack confidence and quality. "We knew it would be a tough one. They're quite defensive. We knew that they would want to get something from the game," Armstrong said after the match. "It was important to get that breakthrough early on. The first few minutes of the second half were a bit difficult, but we found our feet and deserved the win. "Ultimately, we want to be at the top end of the table. We've found ourselves in the bottom half in recent years ... We take things game by game, but today's a good start."

Jannik Vestergaard 8, Che Adams 7; Phil Jagielka 7, Sander Berge 4: Southampton v Sheffield United player ratings

Saints comfortable 3-0 winners over woeful Blades at St Mary's