Southampton welcome Liverpool to St Marys Stadium for a dose of Friday Night Football as the Premier League relegation and title battles continue to intensify.
Liverpool can return to the league summit with victory whilst the Saints know that three points could edge them closer to safety.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesSouthampton could have Shane Long back from a groin injury for their clash with Liverpool.
Jannik Vestergaard is also in contention after returning to training as Danny Ings is ineligble to face his parent club.
Mario Lemina (abdominal) is a major doubt as Michael Obafemi is ruled out until next season with a thigh injury.
Liverpool have Virgil van Dijk available as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez move closer to a return.
Van Dijk suffered a knock last weekend against Tottenham but is deemed fit to feature in this game.
Gomez and Oxlade-Chamberlain are back training but won’t be risked until they’re ready to be included in the matchday squad.
Form
Southampton enter this match unbeaten in three of their last four but have scored in each of those matches.
The Saints have also won three of their five home league games in 2019, drawing and losing one apiece from other two.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 11 league games but have drawn three of their last four away games, of which two finished goalless.
Stat Attack
- Southampton have lost their last three matches in all competitions against Liverpool, having previously avoided defeat in previous five beforehand.
- Liverpool have scored twice in three of their last four league trips to St Marys, winning on two of those occasions with a clean sheet.
- Southampton have already scored 35 goals this season, just two less than the 37 that they scored throughout entirety of last season.
- Mohamed Salah of Liverpool have produced the second highest number of shots in the league this season, producing 109 shots and just two less than Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic who has managed 111 shots.
- Four of Southampton’s top five league goalscorers have come from midfield so far this season, with striker Danny Ings leading the way with seven goals.
Prediction
Under Ralph Hasenhuttl, Southampton have produced decent performances against members of the ‘Big Six’ and stunned Spurs here last month.
This time around, they cannot afford to allow Liverpool to control the game because if they do, I can see a comfortable away win but if can keep it a goal down then we might have another late comeback here.
Sadly though, Liverpool should have that bit too much for them in the end if Klopp prioritises this over next week’s Champions League Quarter-Final against Porto.
Prediction: Southampton 1-2 Liverpool
Jake predicts: Southampton 0-0 Liverpool
Result: Southampton 1-3 Liverpool
Prediction Wars
With the season past the half way point, so is Prediction Wars between me and Boro Rants writer, Jake Self.
Rules remain the same as last season and goes as follows alongside latest standings;
Correct score – 3 points
Correct result – 1 point
Incorrect result – 0 points
| Name | Points |
| James Gregory | 224 |
| Jake Self | 220 |