x

Southampton At Liverpool The Preview

Four months of poor results are catching up with Saints now in terms of League position and now we go to Anfield traditionally not a place we often get a result at, but things haven't gone well for Liverpool either, so can we get three points to guarantee safety and move up the table again.

Newcastle's shock win at Leicester City last night was good news for Liverpool but bad news for Saints fans, Newcastle who a few weeks ago looked odds on for a last day relegation nail biter at Fulham are now up to 13th and two points above us, the good news is that we have two games in hand.

But for Liverpool it has given them a slight ray of hope, they are 9 points behind Leicester who sit in 3rd place still, but they too have two games in hand and they know if they can win them both they have a chance albeit slight of coming in on the rails for a Champions League place.

This will be the rallying cry from Jurgen Klopp to his players and no doubt this will stir their emotions in terms of their bank accounts.

The Reds are still not guaranteed even a Europa League spot and they now have no room for yet more points dropped at home.

But they like Saints have injury woes, but although that has made them vulnerable at the back, they can still be a potent force going forward, although at Anfield they seem to be mainly cold of late, although as we know from experience when a team hasn't won for a number of games or a certain player hasn't scored for three years, you just know that will end when they face Saints.

The good news for Saints though is that they will have Jannik Vestergaard available after his red card and suspension was overturned on appeal.

But that poses a dilemma for Ralph Hasenhuttl does he restore Vestergaard to the middle of the defence or does he keep the back four as it ended the game against Leicester or indeed does he revert to a back three and employ wing backs to counter Liverpool's attacking threat down the flanks.

This is going to be the most interesting question that will be answered an hour before kick off.

Sadly it looks like Saints will be without Danny Ings who was the matchwinner back in January, although it looks like he and Oriol Romeu will be available for the final games of the season.

One person who will be playing though is Fraser Forster who will rotate with Alex McCarthy in the run in to the end of the season.

For Saints it is now all about having a strong finish to the season and in truth once we get this game out of the way we have a good chance of doing that.

There are positive whispers coming out of St Mary's about next season with rumours of a new owner and investment and that will surely please Ralph Hasenhuttl who has seen a promising season ruined by injury.

A trip to Anfield is usually not good for Saints, certainly not in the last few years since our last win there when Shane Long scored in the League Cup semi final four years ago, the Reds attack with pace and that is something we are not good at handling, however it may suit us to sit deep and then go on the counter attack.

Sadly a defeat will mean the League table won't look very good come the end of the weekend's fixtures, but as I say let's get this one over with and then concentrate on three straight home games to get us up the table.

What to read next:

Have Southampton Fans Finally Lost Faith With The Club
Perhaps the one bright spot of this awful season has been the Saints supporters themselves, they have sold out every game in the Premier League at St Mary's and also travelled in large numbers to away games, but that is starting to change.
Ivan Juric Got One Thing Right At The Weekend With Will Smallbone
Ivan Juric has got most things wrong when it comes to team selections, substitutions and tactics since he has been at Southampton, he did so again against Bournemouth, but he did get one thing right !
Southampton V Bournemouth The Verdict
Southampton supporters turned up in their usual big numbers and were once again treated to the same type of display that they have watched all season, yet another defeat at St Mary's due to poor defending.
Southampton V Bournemouth The Preview
Saints take on the Cherries in the New Forest derby, although given the name, most Southampton fans care more about who has the best trees in their half of the forest, than how Bournemouth are doing.
Southampton V Bournemouth In Pictures Part 2
The second part of our pictorial view of the Cherries visit to St Mary's takes us from 2018 up to the present day, how many of the games and the players who took part, do you remember, give your memories in the comments section below.
Southampton V Bournemouth In Pictures
The first of a two part pictorial view of The Cherries visits to St Mary's in the last decade, there have been so many players who have come and gone over the past 10 years, there will be a few forgotten faces, how many will you remember after this memory jog.
Are Things Far From Ok In The Southampton Camp ?
The win at Ipswich last weekend, prompted hope that Ivan Juric was finally moving his team in the right direction, but the days following that win have perhaps exposed frictions that seem to lie within the camp.
Saints In The Great War ! Another Great Book From Hagiology Publishing
It has been a while now since the last book from Hagiology Publishing hit the shelves, but it's been worth the wait, with the latest effort, being just as interesting from the historical perspective as it is the footballing side of things.
Southampton V Burnley The FA Cup Verdict
This should have been a game that brought a little life relief to Southampton supporters, instead it was possibly the worst performance that we have produced this season, it had little hope for the future either this season or next.
Southampton 0 - 1 Burnley - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.