Southampton vs Liverpool
England – Premier League
Date: Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Kick-off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: St. Mary’s Stadium.
Liverpool will face Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium this week, seeking to keep the Premier League title battle alive.
As the 2021/22 Premier League season approaches its conclusion, Liverpool and Manchester City continue to battle for the title at the top of the league.
The defending champions and table-toppers came dangerously close to losing this past weekend, with West Ham United coming within inches of upsetting them, only for Pep Guardiola’s men to rally and earn a 2-2 draw in London.
With this result, City now have a four-point lead over Liverpool heading into the final day of the season.
And now it’s up to the Reds to cut that lead to just one point when they go to St. Mary’s on Tuesday night to face Southampton.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will want to take the title fight to the wire after winning the FA Cup in a penalty shootout against Chelsea.
They are still chasing the unique quadruple.
They’ll need to win both of their final games against Southampton and Wolves, as well as hope that club legend Steven Gerrard helps them out when his Aston Villa team plays the Cityzens on Sunday.
Southampton, on the other hand, do not have much to play for this season, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team six points clear of the relegation zone and five points ahead of 17th-placed Leeds United, who have just one game remaining.
As a result, they are unlikely to be drawn into the relegation battle in the last week, and a top-half finish is also out of reach.
The Saints will be fighting for pride in their final home game of the season, and they will want to give the supporters something to cheer about.
The host team, on the other hand, has lost each of their last four games (D1 L3) and has only one win in their last 11 games in all competitions.
They will be trying to bounce back after being thrashed 3-0 by Brentford last time out and have a say in the title chase.
Liverpool won 4-0 in the reverse encounter at Anfield, with Diogo Jota scoring a brace and Thiago Alcantara and Virgil van Dijk also scoring.
The Hard Tackle examines both teams ahead of their latest matchup on Tuesday night at St. Mary’s.
Southampton vs Liverpool Head to head :
- The Reds record a 4-0 win in the latest encounter.
- They had won 8 of the past 9 clashes.
- At this venue, the guests had won 3 of the past 4 meetings.
- The visitors had scored 2 or more goals in 3 of the past 4 match-ups at this ground.
Southampton vs Liverpool Prediction :
Southampton defeated Liverpool at St. Mary’s in their previous visit in 2021, and have won points at home this season against Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, and Manchester United.
Furthermore, they have had a ten-day rest, which will likely give them an advantage over a Liverpool team that will be tired after their FA Cup final exploits.
The Saints, on the other hand, are coming off a bad run of form, having lost four of their last six league games.
Liverpool hasn’t lost a league match since late December.
Even if Jurgen Klopp rotates his squad on Tuesday night, the Merseysiders should have enough quality to secure all three points and keep the title battle alive until the last day of the season.
Southampton vs Liverpool Team News :
Southampton remain in fine health, barring long-term absence Valentino Livramento, and Hasenhuttl is optimistic that Stuart Armstrong and Fraser Forster will both recover from joint issues in time for the match.
Following the poor performance in gameweek 35, changes should be expected, with Oriol Romeu set to replace Ibrahima Diallo alongside Player of the Season nominee James Ward-Prowse.
Last time out, Adam Armstrong was also handed a rare chance in the final third, but Che Adams will look to dislodge him against the Merseyside giants.
In terms of Liverpool, Klopp is already without Fabinho till the Champions League final, and he also saw Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk leave the FA Cup final with injury.
The pivotal duo are not understood to be suffering from any serious ailments, but they will be closely monitored ahead of three crucial matches, with Andy Robertson maybe getting a respite after having cramp in the cup.
After more than 120 minutes of grueling FA Cup play, Klopp is expected to make big changes, with Tsimikas, Joe Gomez, Roberto Firmino, and Curtis Jones all expecting returns.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Forster; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Salisu, Perraud; Redmond, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, S. Armstrong; Adams, Broja
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Gomez, Matip, Konate, Tsimikas; Jones, Henderson, Keita; Jota, Firmino, Diaz
