The State of Play
Jurgen Klopp will be signing off his reign as Liverpool manager with at least one trophy after the former Borussia Dortmund boss led an inexperienced and injury ravaged Reds side to EFL Cup glory at the weekend with a 1-0 defeat of Chelsea after extra-time at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon. They remain top of the Premier League, as well as in the FA Cup fifth round and the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League, too.
Up until quite recently, Southampton were arguably the best performing team across ‘England’s 92’ with Russell Martin’s very expansive style of football being met with an effectiveness that had seen them go on a 24-match unbeaten run of form across all competitions. However, their 2-1 defeat at home to Millwall on Saturday afternoon was their third defeat in four matches.
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Team News
As mentioned, Jurgen Klopp has had to deal with lots of injuries to his Liverpool squad and The Reds remain without key absentees such as Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara, Ryan Gravenberch and Stefan Bajcetic, whilst Wataru Endo, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez are all doubts.
Striker Ross Stewart remains unavailable for Southampton, albeit he is expected back soon. Saints will also be without defender Juan Larios and on-loan midfielder Flynn Downes.
Expected Line-ups
Liverpool: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Endo, McConnell; Elliott, Gakpo, Luis Diaz
Southampton: Bazunu; Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Aribo, Smallbone, Armstrong; Brooks, Adams, Fraser
What they Said
Jurgen Klopp was so delighted with Liverpool’s success at the weekend that he described it as ‘easily the most special trophy I ever won’ in the aftermath of defeating Chelsea.
Russell Martin was extremely annoyed with Southampton’s performance, particularly defensively, at the weekend and he described himself as ‘furious’.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at Anfield at 20:00 on Wednesday February 28th and will be shown live on ITV1 and can also be streamed via the ITVX app.
Prediction
Liverpool have been excellent with Jurgen Klopp at the helm and they are looking to secure a grand stand finish for their cult hero boss. Team selection is completely up in the air for this Wednesday with the amount of absentees they have. Southampton go to Anfield and will set about their opposition on the front foot but the likelihood remains that a high-scoring home win is to be expected.
