Southampton vs. Liverpool
Venue:St. Mary’s Stadium
Kick off: 3PM
Liverpool will switch their attention back to the Premier League this afternoon following their European exertions during the week with the Reds facing a trip to Southampton.
Liverpool opened their 2019-20 Premier League challenge with a comfortable 4-1 win over Norwich on August 9.
The Canaries actually played quite well for long periods of the game – four first-half goals ultimately saw the Reds triumph, though, as they made the perfect start to the new season.
There is no question that Jurgen Klopp will be targeting another win this weekend.
However, 120 minutes of demanding football in Istanbul on Wednesday night could prove to be an issue.
The Merseyside giants did beat Chelsea on penalties following a 2-2 draw but it was a tough game in difficult conditions.
In truth, neither Klopp nor Frank Lampard would have wanted extra-time, and both would surely have been content with the game going straight to penalties – that was not the case, although it did end well for the Champions League holders as they added more silverware to their cabinet.
A Sunday afternoon or Monday night match would have been preferable for Liverpool – that luxury has not been afforded, however, and they will start their game at 3pm today.
St Mary’s has been a happy hunting ground in recent years, though, and last year’s runners-up will be eyeing another win this this afternoon.
Liverpool have a huge game at home to Arsenal next weekend – a trip to Burnley will then follow ahead of the September international break.
Klopp’s side will then host Newcastle United before travelling to Chelsea towards the end of next month, which will also see the Champions League group stages begin.
A quiet summer in terms of recruitment means that Liverpool do not have much room for manoeuvre when it comes to injuries.
Number one goalkeeper Alisson Becker has already been lost for a few weeks, while Naby Keita missed the Chelsea game with a muscular problem as his injury issues continued.
It would be fair to say that the Reds were fortunate last season when it comes to injuries.
If the likes of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk can avoid setbacks then it should be another successful campaign for the club but nothing is guaranteed.
Southampton will have also been encouraged by the fact that Norwich and Chelsea have both had joy against Liverpool this season.
Indeed, the former should have scored more than once at Anfield last week while the latter created a whole host of chances in addition to scoring twice in Istanbul.
Southampton possible XI: Gunn, Bednarek, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Valery, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Bertrand, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Ings.
Liverpool possible XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Mane, Firmino, Salah.