Southampton v Liverpool: Match Preview & Predicted XI | OneFootball

By Aaron Conlan

After 15 days without action from Liverpool, this Sunday The Reds return away on the south coast against Southampton. The Saints, who have won two of their last three matches, will be looking for a shock result to help bolster their chances of survival. Southampton currently sits rock bottom on four points with a win against Everton and a draw against Ipswich Town, a team which was promoted alongside them, being their only games so far this season that has seen them come away with points. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Liverpool sits top, clear of second place Man City by five points, something which Liverpool will hope will be possibly extended if Man City lose to visitors Tottenham Hotspur.

It appears that in terms of injury concerns, Liverpool have survived the international break without gaining further injuries extending the list of Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa, Alisson Becker and Trent Alexander Arnold who all seem very unlikely to appear at the weekend. Early concerns for both Alexis Mac Alister and Red’s captain Virgil Van Dijk have been shut down at Slot’s press conference on Friday. Van Dijk was confirmed to be fit and no mention of Mac Alister suggests he will be fit for the weekend. This follows Mac Alister’s substitution as a result of a nasty challenge which saw him in some pain with his ankle late on against Peru and Virgil Van Dijk’s withdrawal from the Netherlands squad with the Dutch head coach Ronald Koeman stating “Virgil had some minor complaints, he already had that last week. He trained separately last week until Wednesday.”

“Also considering the schedule that these types of players have to complete – he always plays everything. That is why we decided to send him back to the club”

Ibou Konate is currently the BEST centre-back in the Premier League!

Southampton themselves are struggling with injuries at the moment with key players missing and a lack of depth possibly causing major issues for them on Sunday. Jan Bednarek, who has started all eleven of Southampton’s premier league games this season seems to likely miss out alongside Ryan Fraser, Will Smallbone, Flynn Downes and Ross Stewart. To make matters worse, first and second-choice keepers Aaron Ramsdale and Gavin Bazunu are both set to miss out meaning 34-year-old Alex McCarthy, who has only played 16 league games across the past 3 seasons, will be the most likely man in goal.

Liverpool have won 11 of their last 13 fixtures against Southampton with only one defeat, in 2021, and one draw, the last game of the 2022/23 season, preventing a perfect record. To further this Liverpool have only lost once in their last 26 games in all competitions whilst Southampton have only won four times since their promotion back to the premier league, with three of them coming in the EFL Cup. Speaking on Southampton, Arne Slot said “Southampton can be much more than a capable team against us. I have seen them against Arsenal, Man City and against Wolves. Against Man United, they had a penalty first. They have been a bit unlucky in my opinion and could have had points in almost every game they played.”

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Predicted Lineup

XI: Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Ibrahimi Konate, Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Alister; Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz.