Can Liverpool overcome Southampton?

This weekend, Liverpool make their return to the Premier League after recent successes in the FA Cup and Europa League to face their second massive test in the Premier league.

In reality, it’s a test for both teams. Southampton are currently 4th in the league, 4 points above Liverpool. After a recent run of games against mid-table sides (aside from West Ham who are rather good this year), this will be their first challenge as to whether they can fend off genuine challengers to their top 4 status.

Southampton have come a long way from the team we beat 2-1 on the opening day of the season, and even back then they were tough. That day, both teams were trying to adjust to new personnel and new playing styles. We played Saints at the best time possible, before they were able to build up a head of steam.

Now they have done just that and Ronald Koeman’s side are a real threat this season. Liverpool will have to keep their wits about them if they hope to best the South Coast side at St. Mary’s. Brendan Rodgers has had mixed results at the stadium during his Liverpool reign; in his first year he played a 4-2-4 with Joe Allen the only “defensive midfielder” in the side, and we lost 3-1.

Last year however, we arrived at St. Mary’s in the middle of an amazing run and spanked Pochettino’s side 3-0. So it’s tough to predict exactly how we might do, but the key thing to remember is that they’re still beatable. This might be Southampton’s first big test of their top 4 credentials, but Liverpool’s already began weeks ago when we played West Ham coming off an intense League Cup semi-final against Chelsea. Since then in the league, we’ve had a derby and a game against Spurs and we’ve still got our momentum, just like last year.

Southampton have been impressive, but their recent 1-0 loss to Swansea shows that they can sometimes falter; some believe that result shows they can’t stay in the top 4 forever, but a defeat here would deal them a serious blow. Pelle has also been going through a bit of a dry patch in front of goal recently, so they’ve often struggled to score. Hopefully this trend continues on Sunday and Liverpool can create enough chances to see them off.

Much might also hinge on how Liverpool’s former Southampton stars cope with the return to their old ground. Rickie Lambert parted amicably with the club, but Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren certainly did not. Lallana may well start this game while Lovren has repeatedly been brought off the bench in recent games, so it will be interesting to see if they can cope mentally with the barrage of abuse Southampton fans will throw at them; particularly Lovren, who has often been found lacking in belief.

One thing Southampton definitely have in their favour is fitness. While Liverpool are coming off the back of a testing Europa League tie only 3 days before – their 10th game in nearly 5 weeks – Southampton’s early exit from the FA Cup and lack of European involvement means they’ve had a week and a half to rest and prepare for Liverpool’s visit. That gives them an extremely important advantage over LFC, who will have had barely any time to prepare themselves; something that ultimately led to our horrific form back last Autumn.

Fortunately we played at Anfield on Thursday and therefore haven’t had to travel back from Turkey (that joy comes next week) so things could be worse, but if we are still tired then Southampton could potentially beat us quite comfortably. At least we will have a fresh Markovic and Sterling to return to the starting line up, as the latter returned from a 2-week injury off the bench against Besiktas while Markovic is forced to sit out of Europe with a suspension. Ibe was also unable to play in the FA Cup last weekend, so he should also still have a lot of energy left.

While the increased frequency in matches makes the timing of this fixture far from ideal, it is important to remember that Liverpool still have some tricks up their sleeve and a lot of factors in their favour.

Win here and we could be 1 point away from 4th. Get it done, lads.