Liverpool look to make it six-in-six to start the Premier League season and put some pressure on Chelsea as they stay at Anfield and take on Southampton. With Chelsea visiting West Ham on Sunday, Liverpool have a golden opportunity to set the tone in the early title race by picking up a big three points less than a week after the heart-pumping 3-2 victory over PSG at Anfield on the first Champions League match day of the season.
Team News:
Liverpool have been given a boost in Dejan Lovren returning to full training with the side this week. Jurgen Klopp confirmed that he will not be part of the squad, but it's a boost for the entire side that a key center back is well on his way to hitting full fitness. It's not been the happiest of weeks for Lovren who was charged in Croatia with perjury, but the case surrounding the charges is incredibly messy and too detailed for me to properly summarize. Liverpool were also given a boost with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury as he confirmed that he is at the stage in rehab where he can kick a ball now. Klopp made clear in his presser that there is no rush on the midfielder, and indeed these sorts of injury take plenty of time to heal from, but the hope is that he will be fit as ever by the start of next season.
A handful of other injury concerns surround the Liverpool camp this weekend, the primary of which being Adam Lallana's. Lallana, I reported, took to social media to confirm that he was okay, but in the presser for this match Klopp stated that Lallana continued to do rehab work away from the team. This was a minor misunderstanding on my end as Lallana's exact verbiage in his Instagram post being "I’ll be back available for Liverpool, both domestically and in the Champions League during September." I apologize if my information in last week's preview surrounding Lallana was misleading. Other knocks included Dominic Solanke, who received a concussion while playing with the U23s last weekend, and Divock Origi's knee problem. Origi remains out of training, with the hope being he will return to it on Sunday, while Solanke took part in training on Friday for the first time since the knock. A bright spot, to note, also is the confirmed fitness of Roberto Firmino to start the match on the weekend after his eye injury last weekend and game-winning goal against PSG on Tuesday.
For Southampton, there is something resembling a striker crisis for the club. Danny Ings is of course ineligible to play against his parent club (yes, technically still his parent club) on the weekend after a strong outing. It was then ruled, yesterday, by manager Mark Hughes that Manolo Gabbiadini was suffering from a hamstring problem and would seem to be a doubt for the Saints. The Italian came on for Shane Long on the weekend and would appear to be the only injury concern for the Saints, but Hughes is still seemingly quite happy with his forward options. Logic would dictate that Long and Charlie Austin would get the start together, as Southampton has stuck to the 4-4-2 quite strictly since the first match of the season, shifting from a 3-4-1-2.
Projected Liverpool Line-Up: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Milner, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Projected Southampton Line-Up: McCarthy; Cedric, Vestergaard, Hoedt, Bertrand; Elyounoussi, Lemina, Hojbjerg, Redmond; Austin, Long
Previewing the Match:
Perhaps the most important thing for Liverpool is keeping the same energy that they have had all season into this match. Coming off a towering win against a giant of the world game while Southampton dropped a 2-0 lead at home over Brighton to draw 2-2, the two teams' post-match mindsets surely could not be farther from each other. The key will be to make sure the Reds are clinical enough to stay aware of the danger of their opponent and make sure that any potential slump is avoided, which Jurgen Klopp is assuredly drilling into each player's head.
One of the nice things about Southampton is that quite broadly, you know what you're getting when you look at them as a side. Mark Hughes has them playing some fairly solid football and have not looked like the possible relegation candidates they were tabbed to be in preseason, albeit, their collapse at home against Brighton does not exact instill confidence in their fans. Let's talk about their play though.
Southampton, as I mention, generally stick to the 4-4-2 and do it quite rigidly with their own tweaks. The two strikers on top have generally been Shane Long and Danny Ings, with Long pressing forward using one of his greatest attributes (his ability to run with great stamina) to close down defenders while Ings drops back and harasses the side while they are in possession. With Ings unavailable, I'm looking at Charlie Austin to drop deeper and fill this role, potentially starting breaks if he is successful. Nathan Redmond has been very good on the left wing and offered a ton getting forward against Brighton while Mohamed Elyounoussi has been solid on the right. I personally was not deeply impressed with the end product of either, though, and I think one of them needs to offer that killer ball if the Saints want to exploit the wings. In midfield, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's brilliant strike was an early goal of the season candidate and a superb effort while Mario Lemina is his usual consistent self. Middle of the field will be tough to get through for any opponent as both Lemina and Hojbjerg work hard and Jannik Verstergaard and Wesley Hoedt await those who get past in defense.
After a tough 2016-17 against Southampton, 2017-18 saw Liverpool reign over Saints winning their two meetings on an aggregate of 5-0, with the matches including a who's who of Saints no longer with the team or out of favor: Virgil van Dijk, Guido Carrillo, Sofine Boufal, Dusan Tadic, Fraser Forster, and Oriol Romeu all featuring in the two meetings last season. The Lemina-led midfield of last season offered a nice outing last season in the two sides' second meeting, and the link between he and Hojbjerg could offer resistance in the midfield battle against a Liverpool side whose midfield has been rivaled by none in the league this season. This match may not come down to the midfield battle, but if James Milner can continue his stellar form and Gini Wijnaldum dominates as a box-to-box holding mid as he has been, possession will be retained much easier for the Reds against a solid Southampton side.
What will be the thing I'm looking to most is the Liverpool attack versus the Southampton defense. Ryan Bertrand and Cedric have been constants in the Saints' line-up for years now, but the addition of Vestergaard, a massive 6'6" presence in the back line, has been vital in shoring up the defensive side of things. Vestergaard is obviously a massive threat in the air, but also reads the game well and has a nice mind for the game in the back. That said, he lacks pace, and so too does his defensive side-mate, Cedric. That should open the door for Sadio Mane to try and get in between the spaces they offer. This game also screams out for Naby Keita, in my eyes. His link-up play on the left side has been very good with Mane and Andy Robertson when the Scottish left back runs on the overlap. Both Cedric and Vestergaard are great positionally, and that's a key in this Hughes side, all these players know their places on the pitch and are organized well, but the three players I've marked out for Liverpool have produced exceptional bits of quality and know each other so well already. The hope for Liverpool fans is that Mo Salah can break out on the right against Bertrand, but I'm looking upon Liverpool's leading goal scorer and a former Saint himself to make the key impact on the match.
Final Thoughts:
Liverpool have been so good at home under Jurgen Klopp and face a side that they are assuredly a higher quality of. I do think Southampton offer lots of quality and are a side who I look at and think their parts are greater than the sum that they're offering, but I don't know if they will find it fully up against Liverpool tomorrow. Again, you cannot overlook this match if you're Liverpool.
Score Prediction: Liverpool 2: Southampton 0:
I'm predicting a second straight 2-0 in favor of Liverpool in the series. Liverpool are clicking in all the right ways and riding a massive high before taking on Chelsea twice in the same week. This is the sort of match that Liverpool really need to knock out with no hesitation if they want to make a statement. I do think that Southampton have enough in them to resist, but I'll take Liverpool to continue their winning ways.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for more LFC coverage, including live Tweets during the matches, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Michigan basketball coverage!
Team News:
Liverpool have been given a boost in Dejan Lovren returning to full training with the side this week. Jurgen Klopp confirmed that he will not be part of the squad, but it's a boost for the entire side that a key center back is well on his way to hitting full fitness. It's not been the happiest of weeks for Lovren who was charged in Croatia with perjury, but the case surrounding the charges is incredibly messy and too detailed for me to properly summarize. Liverpool were also given a boost with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury as he confirmed that he is at the stage in rehab where he can kick a ball now. Klopp made clear in his presser that there is no rush on the midfielder, and indeed these sorts of injury take plenty of time to heal from, but the hope is that he will be fit as ever by the start of next season.
A handful of other injury concerns surround the Liverpool camp this weekend, the primary of which being Adam Lallana's. Lallana, I reported, took to social media to confirm that he was okay, but in the presser for this match Klopp stated that Lallana continued to do rehab work away from the team. This was a minor misunderstanding on my end as Lallana's exact verbiage in his Instagram post being "I’ll be back available for Liverpool, both domestically and in the Champions League during September." I apologize if my information in last week's preview surrounding Lallana was misleading. Other knocks included Dominic Solanke, who received a concussion while playing with the U23s last weekend, and Divock Origi's knee problem. Origi remains out of training, with the hope being he will return to it on Sunday, while Solanke took part in training on Friday for the first time since the knock. A bright spot, to note, also is the confirmed fitness of Roberto Firmino to start the match on the weekend after his eye injury last weekend and game-winning goal against PSG on Tuesday.
For Southampton, there is something resembling a striker crisis for the club. Danny Ings is of course ineligible to play against his parent club (yes, technically still his parent club) on the weekend after a strong outing. It was then ruled, yesterday, by manager Mark Hughes that Manolo Gabbiadini was suffering from a hamstring problem and would seem to be a doubt for the Saints. The Italian came on for Shane Long on the weekend and would appear to be the only injury concern for the Saints, but Hughes is still seemingly quite happy with his forward options. Logic would dictate that Long and Charlie Austin would get the start together, as Southampton has stuck to the 4-4-2 quite strictly since the first match of the season, shifting from a 3-4-1-2.
Projected Liverpool Line-Up: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Milner, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Projected Southampton Line-Up: McCarthy; Cedric, Vestergaard, Hoedt, Bertrand; Elyounoussi, Lemina, Hojbjerg, Redmond; Austin, Long
Previewing the Match:
Perhaps the most important thing for Liverpool is keeping the same energy that they have had all season into this match. Coming off a towering win against a giant of the world game while Southampton dropped a 2-0 lead at home over Brighton to draw 2-2, the two teams' post-match mindsets surely could not be farther from each other. The key will be to make sure the Reds are clinical enough to stay aware of the danger of their opponent and make sure that any potential slump is avoided, which Jurgen Klopp is assuredly drilling into each player's head.
One of the nice things about Southampton is that quite broadly, you know what you're getting when you look at them as a side. Mark Hughes has them playing some fairly solid football and have not looked like the possible relegation candidates they were tabbed to be in preseason, albeit, their collapse at home against Brighton does not exact instill confidence in their fans. Let's talk about their play though.
Southampton, as I mention, generally stick to the 4-4-2 and do it quite rigidly with their own tweaks. The two strikers on top have generally been Shane Long and Danny Ings, with Long pressing forward using one of his greatest attributes (his ability to run with great stamina) to close down defenders while Ings drops back and harasses the side while they are in possession. With Ings unavailable, I'm looking at Charlie Austin to drop deeper and fill this role, potentially starting breaks if he is successful. Nathan Redmond has been very good on the left wing and offered a ton getting forward against Brighton while Mohamed Elyounoussi has been solid on the right. I personally was not deeply impressed with the end product of either, though, and I think one of them needs to offer that killer ball if the Saints want to exploit the wings. In midfield, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's brilliant strike was an early goal of the season candidate and a superb effort while Mario Lemina is his usual consistent self. Middle of the field will be tough to get through for any opponent as both Lemina and Hojbjerg work hard and Jannik Verstergaard and Wesley Hoedt await those who get past in defense.
After a tough 2016-17 against Southampton, 2017-18 saw Liverpool reign over Saints winning their two meetings on an aggregate of 5-0, with the matches including a who's who of Saints no longer with the team or out of favor: Virgil van Dijk, Guido Carrillo, Sofine Boufal, Dusan Tadic, Fraser Forster, and Oriol Romeu all featuring in the two meetings last season. The Lemina-led midfield of last season offered a nice outing last season in the two sides' second meeting, and the link between he and Hojbjerg could offer resistance in the midfield battle against a Liverpool side whose midfield has been rivaled by none in the league this season. This match may not come down to the midfield battle, but if James Milner can continue his stellar form and Gini Wijnaldum dominates as a box-to-box holding mid as he has been, possession will be retained much easier for the Reds against a solid Southampton side.
What will be the thing I'm looking to most is the Liverpool attack versus the Southampton defense. Ryan Bertrand and Cedric have been constants in the Saints' line-up for years now, but the addition of Vestergaard, a massive 6'6" presence in the back line, has been vital in shoring up the defensive side of things. Vestergaard is obviously a massive threat in the air, but also reads the game well and has a nice mind for the game in the back. That said, he lacks pace, and so too does his defensive side-mate, Cedric. That should open the door for Sadio Mane to try and get in between the spaces they offer. This game also screams out for Naby Keita, in my eyes. His link-up play on the left side has been very good with Mane and Andy Robertson when the Scottish left back runs on the overlap. Both Cedric and Vestergaard are great positionally, and that's a key in this Hughes side, all these players know their places on the pitch and are organized well, but the three players I've marked out for Liverpool have produced exceptional bits of quality and know each other so well already. The hope for Liverpool fans is that Mo Salah can break out on the right against Bertrand, but I'm looking upon Liverpool's leading goal scorer and a former Saint himself to make the key impact on the match.
Final Thoughts:
Liverpool have been so good at home under Jurgen Klopp and face a side that they are assuredly a higher quality of. I do think Southampton offer lots of quality and are a side who I look at and think their parts are greater than the sum that they're offering, but I don't know if they will find it fully up against Liverpool tomorrow. Again, you cannot overlook this match if you're Liverpool.
Score Prediction: Liverpool 2: Southampton 0:
I'm predicting a second straight 2-0 in favor of Liverpool in the series. Liverpool are clicking in all the right ways and riding a massive high before taking on Chelsea twice in the same week. This is the sort of match that Liverpool really need to knock out with no hesitation if they want to make a statement. I do think that Southampton have enough in them to resist, but I'll take Liverpool to continue their winning ways.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for more LFC coverage, including live Tweets during the matches, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Michigan basketball coverage!
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