Southampton vs Liverpool – Match preview and team news

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The Football Faithful

·24 novembre 2024

Southampton vs Liverpool – Match preview and team news

Premier League leaders Liverpool make the trip to the South Coast this weekend to face bottom-of-the-table Southampton.

Arne Slot’s side have a five-point cushion at the summit of the league, while the Saints are propping up the table with only four points from 11 matches.

Vidéos OneFootball

Southampton’s third-choice goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is poised to start due to Aaron Ramsdale’s unavailability with a broken finger. Russell Martin has confirmed that Jan Bednarek has also joined Ramsdale on the sidelines.

Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is yet to return to training after limping off against Aston Villa a fortnight ago. However, Virgil van Dijk has passed a fitness test and Harvey Elliott is edging closer to a return.

Southampton vs Liverpool – Match preview and team news

Form

Southampton: LLWWL

Russell Martin’s Southampton have struggled to adapt to the Premier League following their promotion through the Championship playoffs.

Martin has been criticised for his unwillingness to alter his team’s risky playstyle which encourages possession-based football.

What deflection, @SaintLambo07? 😉 ⏪ A big win over Liverpool in 2013:
– vendredi 22 novembre 2024

They are rooted to the bottom of the table after nine defeats in eleven games and are the lowest-scoring side in the division with only seven goals to their name.

However, they have won two of their last three outings after beating Stoke City in the Carabao Cup and narrowly earning their first league victory at home to Everton.

Liverpool: DWWWW

In his relatively short time at the club, Arne Slot has re-established this Liverpool side as a title contender.

In his 17 games at the helm in all competitions, the Reds have only dropped points in two games; a hard-fought point away at Arsenal and a shock home defeat to Nottingham Forest.

It's MATCHDAY! 👊 We return to #PL action with a trip to the south coast 🌊 #WalkOn | #SOULIV
– dimanche 24 novembre 2024

Not only are they top of the Premier League, but they are also leading the Champions League standings after collecting maximum points from their four European matches, conceding just once.

They have impressively conquered the likes of AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in Europe and have also progressed into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

Last Meeting: Liverpool 3-0 Southampton, FA Cup, 28th February 2024

A youthful Liverpool squad breezed past Southampton earlier this year to advance into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Due to excessive injuries, Jurgen Klopp fielded an inexperienced team consisting of six academy graduates.

It was one of the youngsters who opened the scoring just shy of half-time as Bobby Clark set up Lewis Koumas. The teenager’s disguised effort wrong-footed Joe Lumley and nestled into the bottom corner.

Koumas was replaced by fellow academy starlet Jayden Danns in the second period and the 18-year-old also made a lasting impression.

Harvey Elliott slipped in the teenager who had the presence of mind to delicately lift the ball over the onrushing Lumley and into the back of the net in front of the Kop.

However, Danns wasn’t finished there as he emphatically smashed in the rebound for his second after Conor Bradley’s strike was parried into his path.

Predicted Lineups

Southampton: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Sugawara, Stephens, Harwood-Bellis, Manning; Armstrong, Downes, Lallana, Fernandes; Archer.

Liverpool: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Nunez.

Who is the referee?

Sam Barrott will be the match official. He will be assisted by Lee Betts and Wade Smith while Darren England will be the fourth official. The VAR will be Michael Oliver and he will be assisted by Mat Wilkes.