Southampton vs Liverpool – The view from St Mary’s Stadium – Opposition Preview
Liverpool will be looking to solidify their 3rd place position in the Premier League table when they travel to the south coast to take on Southampton this Sunday.
The previous fixture between these two sides this season saw the Reds come out out as 3-0 winners after a brace from Mohamed Salah and a second half strike from Philippe Coutinho.
Since then, Liverpool paid Southampton £75m to take Virgil van Dijk off their books last month, with Coutinho departing for Barcelona.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s side currently sit in 15th but earned an impressive win away to West Brom last weekend.
To get an opposing preview of this fixture, we spoke to Ben Stanfield from the Total Saints Podcast.
How would you assess Southampton’s current situation going into this fixture? How important a game is this for them?
It’s been a very disappointing season for Saints, but they actually come into this game with Liverpool in some decent form (bearing in mind the aforementioned comment!).
We’re unbeaten in 6 games and finally tasted Premier League victory at West Brom last weekend – the first time since November – which saw us end the longest winless run in all four Divisions!
In terms of importance, I think you could look at this game both ways from a Saints point-of-view. Some will deem it a ‘free hit’, against a top-6 side who are much stronger than us on paper. But others will also see it as a chance to continue some positive momentum towards the end of the season, by laying down a marker against a very dangerous opponent.
WATCH: Jürgen Klopp’s pre-Southampton press conference in full
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – Saturday, August 26, 2017: Southampton’s manager Mauricio Pellegrino during the FA Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Southampton at the John Smith’s Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Your thoughts on Mauricio Pellegrino’s first months as a manager in the Premier League?
Pellegrino comes across as a nice bloke, but he’s failed to convince me on numerous occasions this season. It’s widely agreed that there is a lack of balance in the Saints squad, which is definitely no fault of his, however our League position only goes to emphasise that he has not got the best out of what he does have.
He is a naturally defensive coach and regularly sets up not to lose a game, rather than try to win it. Too many times this season he has failed to impact games when needed, by introducing the right substitutions at the right time, or by reorganising quickly enough based on any tactical change(s) by the opposition.
There are wider issues at Saints than just Mauricio Pellegrino, but for me he has done incredibly well to remain in the job as long as he has done. If we do manage to stay in the Premier League then it appears it may well be more by luck than judgement.
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – Tuesday, January 30, 2018: Liverpool’s substitute Virgil van Dijk on the bench before the FA Premier League match between Huddersfield Town FC and Liverpool FC at the John Smith’s Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Do you think Virgil van Dijk’s move to Liverpool in January was the best move for all parties involved?
The Saints hierarchy have had a lot of experience over the last few years of trying to ‘manage’ players who consider themselves bigger than the Club, but Van Dijk has definitely been the most challenging and tiresome for them, I believe.
It was widely regarded as a positive move by Saints when they challenged Liverpool’s meeting with Van Dijk in the first half of 2017, eventually leading to the apology that came from Anfield.
But if the plan was always to sell Van Dijk to Liverpool anyway (which seemed his preferred option – and certainly his agents! – all the way through) then I don’t know why we didn’t just agree the fee in the summer and move him on then.
His personal attitude since the fall out was completely unprofessional, and his performances on the pitch regularly woeful. This after the Club spent a lot of time and money helping him rehabilitate from a long-term injury.
It sums up a lot of modern footballers sadly (as we’ve just seen with Mahrez/Leicester as well), but getting him out of Saints in January, to any Club, was the best move for the Club.
NEW: Klopp ahead of Saints clash: "Yes, for sure I'll talk to Virgil about going back there."https://t.co/TBFcnfV7Hc
— Anfield HQ (@AnfieldHQ) February 9, 2018
How good do you think Van Dijk could go on to become for Liverpool?
As mentioned he has spent the last 12 months or so injured and/or trying to return to his best.
It would sound incredibly bitter of me to say he’s not that good, but he clearly has the technical ability and physicality to go on and become one of the best Central Defenders in the world.
His fee, alongside the increased media interest around a Club of Liverpool’s size, will make him more vulnerable to criticism I think, so it’ll be interesting to see how he deals with that on the pitch. He’s already looked quite shaky.
Do you think Dejan Lovren, another former Saint, could be Van Dijk’s long-term centre-back partner?
Who? Only joking! Liverpool fans may have a different view on this, but I don’t see Dejan Lovren becoming Van Dijk’s long-term centre-back partner, no. He’s played well over 100 games for you and yet all of us still see numerous mistakes, poor positioning and a lack of communication from him.
If Liverpool truly have a desire to win the Premier League in the near future, then I think they’ll need to sign a much better centre-back than Lovren to achieve that.
For the moment, from the outside looking in, I think Joel Matip looks far more accomplished in the Premier League than Lovren.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Saturday, October 28, 2017: Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Southampton’s Nathan Redmond during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
How would you expect Southampton to set up for this one? Are they likely to sit deep and invite pressure or will they have a go?
If you listen very carefully you can probably make out the sound of that bus reversing in front of the Saints goal already!
As I mentioned, Pellegrino is a naturally defensive coach, but this is a game where that probably works best for us. With the pace and creativity that Liverpool have in the front third, it would be a very dangerous tactic to play by trying to take the game to you.
So I expect to see Saints sit back, let Liverpool have the majority of possession, frustrate and try and limit you to as few opportunities as possible – before obviously trying to nick something on the counter. Easier said than done!
Your assessment of Liverpool’s season so far?
It seems to have become a regular thing with Liverpool over the last few years – scintillating going forward, scary at the back.
Whilst defensively you have improved somewhat this season, and Van Dijk will eventually strengthen that even more, it still appears to be the achilles heel in achieving any success.
To get to early February and only have the Champions League to compete for (in terms of winning a trophy) is, I’m assuming, pretty disappointing for Liverpool fans.
Still, maybe next season will be your season…
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – Saturday, August 26, 2017: Southampton’s Mario Lemina during the FA Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Southampton at the John Smith’s Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The Southampton player you think Liverpool must be most wary of?
This is quite a hard one to answer based on the fact that we’ve had a lot of inconsistent performers this season, and also because of the game plan I expect us to undertake.
For that reason I’m going to say Mario Lemina. He has been out injured for a while, but gave a man of the match performance last weekend – both defensively and going forward.
If he can drive Saints on from the middle of the pitch, then hopefully the other members of the team will gain much needed inspiration from that.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sunday, February 4, 2018: Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring the first goal during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The Liverpool player you think could cause Southampton the most problems?
Blimey, where do I start. It’s just nice for Saints fans not to have to worry about Coutinho anymore – someone who regularly popped in a goal or two against us. But Mane, Salah, Firmino all scare the you know what out of me.
I’d have to go for Salah. He’s been brilliant this season. When you signed him I thought he’d be a bit of a flop again in English football, but he’s proven me (and many others wrong). If we keep him quiet then we have a chance.
I’m hoping I’ve put the mockers on by making Salah my Fantasy Captain, and Firmino the Vice!
Your score prediction?
I predicted on my Podcast (@totalsaintspod) last week that it would be 2-0 to Liverpool. I see no reason to change that – although fear it could be more if Liverpool hit their stride.
If you offered Saints a draw now I’d bite your hand off!
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