Southampton vs Liverpool
Mar 1, 2014 at 5.30pm (UK)
St Mary’s Stadium
Free scoring Liverpool travel to St Mary’s to take on Southampton in what is expected to be an absolute cracker of an encounter. Southampton had defeated Liverpool at Anfield when both the sides met earlier this season but things have drastically changed since then. The Saints come into the feisty clash after a disappointing 1-3 reversal at the hands of West Ham last week and Mauricio Pochettino will be looking to get his boys back on track on what has been a satisfying Premier League campaign.
The Reds however, will be looking to keep their foothold strong for the fourth spot – a position which looks increasingly in favour of them. Brendan Rodgers should avoid any sort of complacency set within the squad, which could be suicidal in the Business end of the campaign. No doubt he will be directing his troops to acquire revenge over their loss at home by gaining an away win and put pressure on their nearest team, Manchester City who are in third.
What to expect from the match:
Southampton will be very disciplined at home to say the least. The trio of Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Ricky Lambert, with all their forays and energetic running are sure to put pressure on the wing backs to peg them back and get the ball back as quickly as possible. From Liverpool’s point of view, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge will again be looking to cut open the Saints defence with their sublime understanding while the likes of Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho will be looking to dart inside using their pace and the ability to deliver incisive balls in he final third for the strikers.
Key players:
Liverpool: Daniel Sturridge: The Englishman has became the first player since Dutchman Ruud Van Nistelrooy to score in eight consecutive Premier League games and will again lead the Reds front line. Sturridge’s partner Luis Suarez hasn’t scored in the last few encounters but has been racking up assists for his strike partner. The Liverpool attacker continued his fine form by bagging a brace in his team’s thrilling 4-3 win over Swansea over the weekend and will be looking to add to his tally come against Southampton.
Southampton: Adam Lallana: Lallana has been an integral part of the Southampton side and will again be looking to drive the Saints if they are to get the three points in their kitty against a very strong Liverpool side.
Team News:
A positive news for Liverpool is the return of defender Mamadou Sakho, who suffered a hamstring injury that had kept him out of action for almost two months now. On other news, Lucas has also been training with the first team but Rodgers has confirmed that only the Frenchman may be available for Saturday’s trip to Southampton.
“We’ve obviously had a couple of players return to training,Sakho has trained this week, which has been great. We’ll see if it’s too early for him this weekend.
“And Lucas Leiva rejoined the group today, which was great.”
No major concerns for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
Possible Line-up:
Match Facts:
- Southampton have dropped more points from winning positions than any other team in the Barclays Premier League (15).
- Liverpool have scored 11 headed goals from just 15 headers on target this season in the Barclays Premier League.
- Daniel Sturridge has scored in eight consecutive Premier League appearances. Only Ruud van Nistelrooy (10) has scored in more consecutive appearances in the history of the competition.
- Liverpool have conceded the highest proportion of goals from headers of any team in the top flight this season (26%).
- Liverpool have scored the highest proportion of first half goals of any team in the Premier League this season (66%).
- Only four teams have kept fewer clean sheets than Liverpool in the top flight this season (7), three of those teams are in the bottom four.
- Saints are one of only two teams in the Premier League to keep a clean sheet against Liverpool this season (the other being Arsenal at the Emirates).
Stats compiled from uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Predictions: I expect Liverpool go into the encounter as slight favourites but Southampton have their attacking prowess to sting the Reds shoggy defence. Liverpool should win thanks to their attacking instincts but do expect the Saints do give a strong fight of their own.
Southampton 1-3 Liverpool