It is time for Claude Puel to show Saints fans that he knows his best side and that this game is a priority to him, if he does that then Saints fans need to get behind him tonight.

All Saints fans are asking tonight is for Claude Puel to put out a strong side and not tinker around and try to be to clever, if he does that then the supporters need to forget about the last month or so and get behind the manager and the team.

Most supporters would be in agreement with whom should beat the back, Forster in goal with a back four of Soares, Yoshida, Van Dijk and Bertrand.

Of course we would rather have Jose Fonte in the team and able to give it his best shot, but the reason he won't be is down to the player himself who would seemingly rather chase one last big pay day than help the club that mainly made his reputation get to a Wembley cup final, to me this sums up modern football.

In midfield it is strange that Steven Davis has been overlooked a lot lately, especially since it was him that sparked the great second half display at Bournemouth, again most would like to see a central trio of him with Oriol Romeu and Jordy Clasie.

The front three is more difficult, I would start with Jay Rodriguez and Nathan Redmond, but I would be tempted to also start Shane Long and put pressure on their back four from the start.

That however would be holding little in reserve in terms of goal threat, so I would expect Long to start on the bench wit Dusan Tadic starting.

That would leave a six man outfield bench of Mcqueen, Martina, Hojbjerg, Ward Prowse Long and Sims.

This is a semi final, they dont come along very often for Saints supporters, the last one was 14 years ago and before that it was 30 years ago, that means few Saints supporters under 25 can really remember the last one and you would need to be in your mid 40's to have gone to the one before that in 1987.

So we should appreciate it and enjoy it for what it is, some may think that the club is in crisis, but 10th in the League and a semi final has traditionally not constituted crisis for this football club but success, some seem to be blinded by the past few seasons and almost waiting for us to fail, they need to realise what a great opportunity this is and get behind the side rather than almost wanting us to fail.

Some of these fans are also not going to the game tonight judging by social media comments, well I feel sorry for anyone that is doing that, it's just biting your nose off to spite your face, this is a big night. I would rather be playing for a place at Wembley this evening than most of the other games we have played at this time of year over the last three decades.

Photo: Action Images

steve73 added 14:16 - Jan 11 Totally agree re Steven Davis, really hope he plays tonight. Doesn't get enough credit for what he does. We always seem to look better when he plays and he's a proper pro who loves the game. I've probably overlooked someone obvious but won't he now be our longest serving first team player with Fonte leaving?
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Alehouse added 14:43 - Jan 11 Tonight is a big night and I will be getting behind the Saints. If we are going to beat Liverpool over two legs we will need a much better performance than anything we have seen so far this season. Better performances and bolder tactics from the players and the manager. As Claude Puel says we will need to control the game, but to do that we need to keep possession and move the ball forward with accuracy and speed. When we don't have the ball we need to press them fiercely until we recover it, and all this for 90 minutes. Passing the ball sideways and backwards when you are in possession and dropping 10 men behind the ball when you are not does not count as control even if you have majority possession.

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SanMarco added 14:50 - Jan 11 Yes steve73 - he will be the only one that kicked off against Man City in our first game back. I don't think the club is in crisis, we are simply less good than we were. Many feel the club made mistakes in the summer and are a bit down about the definite decline in standard - but I agree that those not going would seem to be cutting off their noses etc. Perhaps some have been led to expect too much but turning your nose up (if you haven't already cut it off) at a semi seems rather sad. I can't say I am confident but if we can defend well then anything is possible. Our strongest side last season would have fancied our chances in this game, indeed take the league games and we would beat them 4-3 on aggregate. The 1-6 was a freak result precipitated by our not having our first choice defence out and everything Liverpool hit going in. If Liverpool dominate like they did in the 0-0 a few weeks ago we haven't a prayer as they won't fail to score twice in a row in a similar game. My feeling is that a draw will not be a disaster - let's still be in the tie when we go up there. I hope the last seats sell out and let's get behind the Saints...leave the negatives for tomorrow's verdict and let's hope we don't need them.

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law101 added 14:54 - Jan 11 Apologies in advance for my negativity, I won't when we kick off! But I can't help but look at the team Nick suggests, which is quite right and wonder how the hell we are going to score enough goals over two legs to have a hope of winning the tie. We play with personnel who don't score goals in a system with no fluidity or excitement. I hope I am wrong, enough negativity for today and time to focus on cheering the boys on!!

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law101 added 15:00 - Jan 11 Also anyone hoping for a high press, high intensity performance from Saints will be disappointed. Expect us to try and control the ball better but we will still drop deep out of possession and look to counter! The style will not change.
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Alehouse added 15:45 - Jan 11 Law101 I'm afraid you're right. I'm not expecting a high intensity high press performance, I just think that's what it will take to win. The tactics you describe may get a draw at home, if we're lucky like last time, but if Liverpool score then that's goodbye......
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SonicBoom added 15:51 - Jan 11 Davis was indeed great at Bournemouth mainly because he took a risk and actually burst into the box beyond the strikers. When he does that he's excellent. Unfortunately for the most part he wants to sit in central midfield and play sideways, low risk passes.
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steve73 added 15:51 - Jan 11 We need to believe in the magic of the cup, it's our only hope really. Over 2 legs we've little to no chance. They do have weaknesses but not the type we're good at exploiting. Now if we had a wide forward with devestating pace and a strong bully of a centre forward we might have a chance. Oh...
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dixiefrog added 18:01 - Jan 11 What could possibly go wrong...absolutely nothing. As a true saints fan for over fifty years I can't see anything tonight other than a win. Yes it will be tough, yes we'll concede a goal, yes it won't be pretty but for me, every game provides yet more evidence that we support the greatest ever football team. Come on everyone, get behind the team and roar them on, ignore the stats, ignore the pundits, ignore the supposed experts, ignore Simon Cowell, Donald Trump and the Dalai Lama. Tonight's our night, one glorious night to produce a beautiful win and prove everyone wrong.

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GeordieSaint added 09:49 - Jan 12 James Ward Prowse also played against City that day.
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