Southampton face a trip to league leaders Liverpool on Saturday looking to extend their winning streak away from St Mary's. Get set for the Anfield clash with our Match Pack, in association with eToro...
THE MATCH
Liverpool vs Southampton
Premier League
Anfield
Saturday 1st February 3.00pm GMT
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistants: Simon Beck, Adrian Holmes
Fourth official: David Webb
VAR: Simon Hooper
Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan
WHICH KITS WILL SAINTS BE WEARING?
With the hosts in their traditional all red home kit, Saints will don their dark grey away shirt with yellow trim, yellow shorts and yellow socks.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
There’s potential history in the making for both teams this weekend.
Liverpool will want to guard their unbeaten record, heading into the match having dropped just two points all season, whilst Southampton will head to Merseyside with maximum points from their last four away outings in the Premier League.
Saints have only ever won five on the road in succession once before, but never in the top flight, giving even more motivation for the clash with the runaway league leaders.
TEAM NEWS
Southampton will be without Stuart Armstrong for the trip to Merseyside with the Scotland international ruled out for ‘two to three weeks’ with a hip injury.
Otherwise, Ralph Hasenhüttl has a fully fit squad to choose from with Yan Valery and Jannik Vestergaard completing the full week’s training after a recent absence, although newest recruit Kyle Walker-Peters will not make his debut, the manager has confirmed.
For the hosts, Sadio Mané is likely to miss the encounter against his former employers due to a muscular tear, joining James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri on the sidelines.
FORM GUIDE
Southampton:
Tottenham (h) 1-1 (Boufal) FA Cup
Crystal Palace (a) 2-0 (Redmond, Armstrong)
Wolves (h) 2-3 (Bednarek, Long)
Leicester (a) 2-1 (Armstrong, Ings)
Huddersfield (h) 2-0 (Smallbone, Vokins) FA Cup
Liverpool:
West Ham (a) 2-0 (Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain)
Shrewsbury (a) 2-2 (Jones, Love OG) FA Cup
Wolves (a) 2-1 (Henderson, Firmino)
Man United (h) 2-0 (Van Dijk, Salah)
Tottenham (a) 1-0 (Firmino)
THE MANAGERS
Ralph Hasenhüttl: "We go there knowing about their record and the quality of their team, but we don't play against their record, we play against 11 players and we want to show ourselves how far we have come, how competitive we are, at a fantastic ground and a fantastic crowd and against this fantastic team.”
ONES TO WATCH
Jack Stephens: The central defender has been shortlisted for January’s Premier League Player of the Month award, and Stephens will have to extend his imperious form into February if Saints are to hold Liverpool’s formidable attack at arm’s length.
Helping Southampton to three wins and two clean sheets in January, the 26-year-old also chipped in with two assists, making him integral to the recent upturn in form.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: The Southampton Academy graduate looks back to his best after recovering from a long-term knee ligament injury.
Scoring in the midweek win at West Ham, the midfielder has put in a string of fine performances for the Reds this season and will be determined to put in another notable performance against the club who kick-started his career.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Southampton:
Goals:
Danny Ings 16
Nathan Redmond 4
James Ward-Prowse 4
Assists:
James-Ward Prowse 4
Jack Stephens 3
Shane Long 3
Liverpool:
Goals:
Mo Salah 16
Sadio Mané 13
Roberto Firmino 10
Assists:
Alexander-Arnold 10
Mo Salah 5
Roberto Firmino 4
HEAD TO HEAD
Played 109
Saints 30
Draw 24
Liverpool 55
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
August 2019: Saints 1-2 Liverpool (Ings)
April 2019: Saints 1-3 Liverpool (Long)
September 2018: Liverpool 3-0 Saints
February 2018: Saints 0-2 Liverpool
November 2017: Liverpool 3-0 Saints
DID YOU KNOW?
- Southampton have won 65% of their Premier League points this season away from home (20/31) – in the history of the competition, only Crystal Palace in 1997/98 (67%) have won a higher share on the road over a full season.
- Southampton have won their last four Premier League away games – only once in their league history have Saints won five in a row on the road, doing so between April-August 2011 between League One and the Championship.
- Southampton’s top scorer this season Danny Ings scored in Saints’ 1-2 loss against Liverpool in August. Only two players have scored home and away in the same Premier League season against Liverpool having previously played for the Reds in the competition – Dean Saunders in 1992/93 and Jonjo Shelvey in 2013/14.
NOT AT THE GAME?
Not joining Saints on Merseyside? We have you covered! Across our channels we’ll bring you all the action, as well as a host of behind-the-scenes access.
Check out our interactive match centre at southamptonfc.com, with all of the live in-game updates and free audio commentary of the match, and be sure to follow us on social media for further updates and exclusive content:
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