Cyle Larin’s incredible start to the campaign continued with a brace to fire Southampton to a 4-1 win over Bristol City on Saturday.
The Canada international struck once in each half, his first a clinical left-footed effort from the edge of the box and the second a typical poacher’s effort from close range.
Larin is now the Championship‘s top scorer with seven goals in seven appearances, bagging another against Colchester United in the Carabao Cup.
The warning signs were there when Larin arrived at St Mary’s in January, with the 31-year-old ending 2025/26 with nine goals in 22 appearances across all competitions, including eight goals in 18 Championship outings. But this season, he’s hitting new levels.
A vital focal point for Southampton’s elite service
Larin has been relentless in front of goal to start this season. The former Besiktas and Club Brugge man has netted braces in heavy wins over Millwall and Bristol City, while he has also scored against Watford, Stoke City and Swansea City.
The striker’s goals haven’t just been stat-padding exercises either. Larin has scored Saints’ opening goals against Bristol City, Millwall, Stoke and Watford, while his strike against Swansea put his side 2-0 up in an eventual 3-1 victory. He’s scoring vital goals at the most important time, with Southampton taking 12 points from the games in which he’s found the net.
Larin is a traditional No.9, staying central to occupy defenders, making runs behind, and always trying to be available for crosses, cut-backs, and through balls.
That has provided Saints with a vital focal point in the final third. The south coast side have two players in the Championship’s top 10 for chances created — Finn Azaz (14) and Leo Scienza (13) — while Azaz to Larin is the only assister-to-goalscorer partnership in the Championship to yield more than one goal so far this season (2).
Southampton are pulling out all the stops to find Larin, and the result is the striker not only topping the goalscoring charts, but also sitting first in the division for shots (28), shots on target (11) and big chances scored (5).
Larin is making the right runs and is getting great service, with the two combining for the Championship’s most lethal striker right now.
Cyle Larin’s career turnaround
Larin’s form since joining Southampton has been an incredible turnaround.
He isn’t a striker without pedigree, of course. Only Jonathan David (42) has scored more goals for the Canadian national team than Larin (32), who was his country’s record scorer until November 2024. His 23-goal season to fire Besiktas to a domestic double in 2020/21 is also still fresh in the memory.
But following that landmark season in Turkey, Larin failed to break into double figures in a single season during the next five campaigns. He also managed just one goal in 15 appearances for Feyenoord in the first half of last season.
Cyle Larin’s career path so far
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southampton (Feb 2026-present) | 31 | 17 | 1 |
| Feyenoord (Sept 2025-Feb 2026, loan) | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| Mallorca (Aug 2023-Sept 2025) | 76 | 14 | 5 |
| Real Valladolid (Jan 2023-Aug 2023) | 19 | 8 | 3 |
| Club Brugge (Jul 2022-Jan 2023) | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| Zulte Waregem (Jul 2019-Jun 2020) | 33 | 9 | 10 |
| Besiktas (Jan 2018-Jul 2019 & Jul 2020-Jun 2022) | 109 | 39 | 9 |
| Orlando City (Jan 2015-Jan 2018) | 89 | 44 | 8 |
| Canadian National Team (May 2014-present) | 94 | 32 | 4 |
In Southampton, however, Larin has found a team playing to his strengths and, in return, is producing the sorts of numbers that made him such a hot prospect all those years ago for Orlando City in MLS.
Saints are seventh, have only lost once in the Championship this season after seven games and have won their last two, fuelled by Larin’s goals. But if the Canadian continues this sort of output, Tonda Eckert’s side may be unstoppable in their climb towards the top two.
Next up for Southampton
- Wrexham (a)
- Portsmouth (h)
- Norwich (a)
- Bolton (h)
- West Ham (a)