Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham side will go into Thursday's Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United in confident mood after putting five past Southampton on Sunday evening. Last securing victory in the Premier League in late November following that brilliant 4-0 win at Man City, Spurs once again showed what they can do going forward as they recorded another high-scoring victory.

James Maddison put them on their way to three precious points after hitting the opener with only 37 seconds on the clock following some terrific play from Djed Spence. The right-back, who was handed his first start in a Tottenham shirt, went on a positive run from his own half before playing in his teammate with a lovely pass with the outside of his boot.

Southampton have really struggled at times upon their return to the top flight and Tottenham ensured it was going to be one of those nights for the hosts as Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski made it 3-0 with quickfire goals in the 12th and 14th minute respectively. Spurs weren't to stop there, though, as Pape Matar Sarr and Maddison increased the scoreline prior to half-time to put the result beyond any doubt.

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As is usually the case when teams are in cruise control at the break and with a healthy lead to boot, the visitors weren't to inflict even more misery on their opponents as Southampton remained tight at the back in the second half. Brennan Johnson had Tottenham's best opportunity in the closing stages but he couldn't convert Timo Werner's cross when in a promising position.

Amid Tottenham's red-hot form in front of goal at St Mary's, striker Dominic Solanke unfortunately wasn't to add to his tally for the season despite Spurs' dominance. Working as hard as ever and linking up well with his teammates, openings on goal were extremely hard to come by for the 27-year-old.

In fact, a glance at his statistics from the game (via FotMob) shows that he only managed one shot on goal in his 82 minutes on the pitch, with that effort coming in the 14th minute. However, a look at the replay of the opportunity seems to suggest that Solanke didn't make contact with Son's cross as a block from Jan Bednarek put the ball on a plate for Kulusevski to score.

Regardless of whether it was a shot on goal for Solanke or not, Spurs are just not creating enough opportunities for the England international. The former Bournemouth man was seen as the missing piece of the puzzle to Tottenham's attack but there have been a number of games where he has had slim pickings in terms of chances.

That was evident in the lead up to the Aston Villa game in November where he hit a double as he had only managed three shots on goal in his five Tottenham appearances prior to that 4-1 win. Solanke brings so much to the Tottenham team in terms of his work rate, energy, pressing and link-up play but he is a striker and he is ultimately judged on goals.

While others around him are certainly benefitting from what he brings to the team, everyone would like to see the favour returned and the striker presented with a glut of chances as he proved at Bournemouth last season that he knows where the net is. Still, seven goals to his name this season isn't a bad return but it could be a lot higher if the opportunities on goal were there for him.

Tottenham's 5-0 half-time lead on the south coast presented Postecoglou with the perfect opportunity to rotate Son at half-time following his one goal and two assists. Struggling for form recently and not doing enough in the final in Tottenham's hour of need, the South Korean will have been given a huge lift ahead of Thursday's Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United.

Further Spurs changes came later in the contest as Alfie Dorrington came on for his senior Tottenham bow in place of Spence and Werner, who was heavily criticised by his manager for his showing at Rangers last Thursday, took the place of Maddison. Without his captain and vice-captain on the pitch, Fraser Forster was the man who took the armband for the closing stages of the contest.

Many have tipped Kulusevski to be a future Tottenham captain due to his growing role in the Spurs team and also because he has taken on the honour for the Swedish national side. It does look like the midfielder is going to have to bide his time to captain Spurs, however, as it was the experienced shot-stopper who led Tottenham from the 77th minute onwards at his former home.

Kulusevski was once again key to Tottenham's victory and he will be intent on dragging Tottenham kicking and screaming to a Carabao Cup semi-final when they face Manchester United on Thursday. A very good night for Tottenham as they put their poor form to bed at Southampton, now they need to do likewise over the next week to give fans some festive cheer ahead of the holiday season.

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