Live: Liverpool vs Southampton | English Premier League

Time: 10:00 ET | 17:00 Cairo Local Time

Venue: Anfield

Liverpool are playing host to Southampton at Anfield on Saturday afternoon in a game that could turn out to be one of the more interesting features in the 25th round of this season’s Premier League roller coaster; at least from some points of view.

Liverpool

There’s really no need to discuss or assess the way Liverpool’s season has been going, especially when it comes to the Premier League. Often enough their supporters have been taunted for never winning it with the taunters referring to the period since its reorganization in 1992, though in truth they have 18 league titles under their belt, second only to Manchester United’s 20. And it seems number 19 is well on the way.

The Champions League holders played the game in hand they had over other teams at the London Stadium on Wednesday and took the points home by beating West Ham United 0-2. They now have an amazing 19-point cushion over the nearest competition, defending champions Manchester City. They’ve won 23 of the 24 games so far and accumulated 70 of the possible 72 points, drawing only against their fiercest rivals at Old Trafford. They beat United in the return fixture at Anfield, and after the West Ham game, they became the fastest team in the history of the English top flight to have beaten every team in the league in one season.

In total, they’ve managed to string 41 Premier League games together without losing so far, while winning the Champions League somewhere in the middle of that run. They lost in the final of UEFA’s elite club competition to Real Madrid in 2018 and went on to win it the following year, and having lost out to City in the Premier League race last season by a single point, it seems they’re about to repeat the feat there as well.

Sadio Mane is unavailable for selection. The Senegalese forward suffered a slight muscle tear in Liverpool’s win away to Wolverhampton Wanderers last week and was ruled out for two games, which means he should be fine for the next one. Fellow winger Xherdan Shaqiri (calf) is also out, as is midfielder James Milner (thigh). Defender Nathaniel Clyne is out since the start of the season with an ACL tear.

However, forward Divock Origi, who was replaced at the London Stadium due to cramp, is ready to play. Both he and midfielder Adam Lallana (recovered from illness) trained normally today (Friday). Centre-backs Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip have recovered from their respective injuries, but it’s not to be expected Klopp will want to disturb the partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez which has worked extremely well in their absence.

Southampton

The way their season started, the Saints seemed destined to play in the Championship next season for a long time, but manager Ralph Hasenhuttl then finally found the right formula and both the performances and the results have picked up since. They’ve managed to pull off some big surprises since the middle of December, most notably away wins against Chelsea and Leicester City, as well as at home over Tottenham Hotspur. The recent burst of form got them from the relegation zone to the top half of the table in no time, and they are now ninth with 31 points to their name, only three less than Manchester United in fifth.

Southampton’s main man upfront is Danny Ings, a former Liverpool player who made the move from Anfield to St. Mary’s in 2018 after recovering from ACL injuries on both knees, one after the other. The 27-year-old now shares the third place in the Premier League Golden Boot race with the likes of United’s Marcus Rashford and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with 14 goals to his name – two more than Mohamed Salah and three more than Sadio Mane, Liverpool’s current top scorers. He scored his side’s only goal when the two teams met at St. Mary’s back in August.

Whatever happens in this game, Ings is certain to receive a warm welcome when he takes to the Anfield turf again.

Hasenhuttl won’t be able to call upon midfielder Stuart Armstrong who is out with a hip issue. Fullback Yan Valery is a doubt, which means Kyle Walker-Peters, just come in on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, could make his club debut against the Champions League holders. Defender Jannik Vestegaard and forward Shane Long couldn’t play last week with a head and knee problem, respectively, but both are expected to be fine to make the Anfield trip.