Southampton v Liverpool – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Southampton host Liverpool at St. Mary’s in the English Premier League on Monday in the battle of the two gegen-pressing coaches.

Southampton Form

Saints enjoyed a fantastic run at the start of the season as they won five and drew one match in a six game run. They then threw away leads to drew 1-1 with Wolves and lose 3-2 to Man Utd but bounced back with consecutive wins after that.

Since then, Southampton have gone four matches without a win. They drew 1-1 at Arsenal, lost 1-0 at home to Man City and drew 0-0 with each of Fulham and West Ham. That means they are on a run of three matches without scoring.

Southampton Team News

Southampton have two injuries to contend with for this match. Top centre back, Jan Vestergaard is out for a month so Jack Stephens will deputise. On the wing, Nathan Redmond has a muscle injury but Ralph Hasenhüttl has good depth in the wide areas. The Austrian coach prefers to keep a settled side and won’t rotate despite the busy schedule.

Southampton Motivation

Hasenhüttl will use his usual 4-2-2-2 shape and look to press high up the pitch against Liverpool. Southampton won’t take a backwards step and will look to go toe-to-toe with Jurgen Klopp’s side and try to win at home. A draw would be a decent result but they won’t play for one from the start.

Liverpool Form

The Reds have had a slightly disappointing run of results by their high standards. After sublime displays to thrash Leicester 3-0 and Wolves 4-0, the side has been struggling to break down some resilient sides from the bottom half of the table.

In their last seven matches, Liverpool have drawn with all of Brighton, Fulham, West Brom and Newcastle. They also beat Tottenham 2-1 and thrashed Crystal Palace 7-0.

Liverpool Team News

Klopp has defensive issues with Joel Matip picking up a three-week injury to join Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk on the treatment table. This will mean that Fabinho and Nat Phillips form the centre-back pairing once again.

Naby Keita and Diogo Jota are nearing a return whilst Thiago Alcantara and Xherdan Shaqiri returned from injury against Newcastle and will bolster options and creativity.

Liverpool Motivation

Liverpool will play to win but as in recent draws, they can’t play a very open game without Van Dijk to cut off opposition counter-attacks so they’ve been more careful in how they chase matches. A more patient approach with an extra man kept behind the ball is expected.

Key Stats

Southampton have lost 2 of their last 14 PL matches

Southampton have kept 7 clean sheets in their last 14 PL matches

Liverpool have won 6 consecutive matches against Southampton

Liverpool are 11 PL matches unbeaten (W6, D5)

Liverpool have seen under 2.5 goals in 4 of their last 5 away PL matches

Prediction

Southampton have enough to take a point off Liverpool if they play well, whilst a narrow Liverpool win could also be a decent tip.