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The battle for the top four continues in the Premier League, as fourth-placed Southampton hosts Liverpool at St Mary’s on Monday morning. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3:00am AEDT.
When Southampton was pillaged by its Premier League rivals last summer, any chatter about top four, or even title calculations were disregarded with incredulity. Having sold £100m worth of players, as well as farewelling former manager Mauricio Pochettino, the Saints were chalked in amongst teams slated for relegation – such was the instability on the South Coast.
In what can only be described as managerial genius alongside precise star alignment, Southampton have spent the large part of the season in the top four. While the title may be a bridge too far, the work of Ronald Koeman and his ability to integrate new players is such that missing out on next season’s Champions League will be viewed as disappointment, not surprise.
Catapulting Southampton’s ascension has been their excellent record at St Mary’s, where they’ve won seven out of 13 games. Yet the last start outing against 10-man West Ham yielded a goalless draw, meaning the Saints have failed to win at home since New Year’s Day against Arsenal.
Changes are expected to be minimal for the visit of Liverpool, with both Morgan Schneiderlin and Shane Long likely to return from ijury to the squad. The only change mooted for the starting team may be the attack-minded Dusan Tadic to replace either Steven Davis or Victor Wanyama.
Of course, much of the pre-match chatter centres around Liverpool, or more specifically, those at Liverpool who only 12 months ago wore the red of Southampton. The Reds spent £50m to acquire the services of Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren from the South Coast, and out of the three, only Lallana has somewhat justified his price tag, and only Lambert can expect any goodwill from the Saints fans, if he can appear from the bench.
With injuries to captain Steven Gerrard and midfielder Lucas, Brendan Rodgers may be tempted to start Lallana in midfield alongside stand-in skipper Jordan Henderson. Liverpool’s three-man central defence is likely to come under barrage from Southampton’s Tadic/Pelle combination. Rodgers may resort to wingbacks to counter this threat, resulting in both Philippe Coutinho and Jordon Ibe starting further back. Daniel Sturridge will lead the line, but support may be required from Raheem Sterling, who could start after recent injury woes.
The other factor favouring Southampton is the 11 days rest they’ve had since the draw against West Ham, while Liverpool back up only three days after winning narrowly in the Europa League against Besiktas. Last season’s result at St Mary’s bears no indication of what may transpire: Lambert, Lallana and Lovren were still all Southampton players, and Liverpool had Luis Suarez.
Liverpool has been the inform team in 2015, but even so, Southampton has thrown surprise after shock this season in downing their better-fancied opponents. When Liverpool won 2-1 on the opening weekend, few would have accurately predicted the fortunes of the respective sides. Expect no shortage of motivation either from Southampton’s management or loyal fanbase, in trying to prove a point to their former employees, at the expense of Liverpool’s top four aspirations.
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