Nathan Jones is thrown in at the deep end for his first match as Southampton manager as he heads to Anfield to face a Liverpool side who looked rejuvenated last weekend when winning at Tottenham.
The former Luton boss takes over from Ralph Hasenhuttl, whose sacking felt somewhat harsh despite the Saints’ lowly league position of 18th.
While the results were understandably of concern, Hasenhuttl’s team was producing some good performances — particularly at St Mary’s, where they took points off West Ham, Leeds and Arsenal on top of beating Chelsea, while they arguably deserved more in a 1-0 defeat against Manchester United.
Southampton’s problems have been a result of a young, inexperienced squad providing erratic results, with poor finishing and individual mistakes the biggest barrier to success.
That lack of experience particularly showed on the road against the top teams, with Saints conceding four goals in each of their heavy defeats away at Tottenham and Manchester City.
Regardless of who is in the dugout, those two displays do not bode well for a trip to Anfield, where Liverpool will be looking to prove that their recent home defeat to Leeds was merely a home blip.
Team news
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has a long list of confirmed and potential absentees, with attackers Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz both out until after Christmas, alongside midfielder Arthur Melo.
James Milner suffered concussion against Napoli on Tuesday last week so will have to be assessed.
Centre-back Joel Matip will also not return for the final game before the World Cup break and the same is true of midfielder Naby Keita.
Southampton are struggling for right-back options, with Valentino Livramento and Kyle Walker-Peters both out until after the break.
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Kyle Walker-Peters is among Southampton’s absentees for Anfield trip
Kyle Walker-Peters is among Southampton’s absentees for Anfield trip
And last weekend’s stand-in right-back, Juan Larios, lasted only half an hour before he had to be subbed off with an adductor injury, so he is a major doubt.
The stats
Southampton have failed to score on any of their last six visits to Anfield, losing the last five by scores of 4-0, 2-0, 4-0, 3-0 and 3-0.
Saints have also lost all four of this season’s Premier League away trips to teams outside the current bottom seven, suffering 1-0 defeats at Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, a 4-1 loss at Tottenham and a predictable 4-0 mauling at Manchester City.
Liverpool lost to Leeds in their last home league game but that was their first Premier League defeat at Anfield since March 2021 — 30 matches earlier — and they have conceded only one goal in four meetings with teams in the bottom six this season.
Prediction
Southampton supporters will travel north in the hope of seeing a new-manager bounce from their team, but Jones is only likely to see the scale of the task ahead of him.
This young Saints side is not a bad one and should pick up enough points on home soil to see them to safety.
However, their inexperience can show on the road, with the team folding in the face of fierce away support too many times to suspect they can take anything from this trip to Anfield.
The latest Liverpool vs Southampton odds are available on LiveScore Bet
Liverpool supporters suffered a shock recently when watching the Reds lose a Premier League home game for the first time in nearly 20 months.
However, while they have suffered a few wobbles this season, Liverpool have bounced back from
defeat to Leeds by beating Napoli — the form team in Europe — 2-0 at Anfield, before taking all three points from their trip to Tottenham and doing just enough with the youngsters to get through against Derby in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Their recent home victories when keeping clean sheets against Manchester City and West Ham are more representative of Liverpool’s level at Anfield and the Reds should again win to nil against Southampton, available at 19/20 with LiveScore Bet.
SOURCE: livescore.com
