Saints v Liverpool Saturday 1 March 17:30 Match officials REFEREE Lee Probert: ASSISTANTS: R Ganfield & G Beswick. 4th Official: A Marriner Recent form Southamton lost 3 - 1 v West Ham (A) 22 Feb 2014 won 0 - 1 v Hull (A) 11 Feb 2014 drawn 2 - 2 v Stoke (H) 08 Feb 2014 won 0 - 3 v Fulham (A) 01 Feb 2014 drawn 2 - 2 v Arsenal (H) 28 Jan 2014 drawn 2 - 2 v Sunderland (A) 18 Jan 2014 Liverpool won 4 - 3 v Swansea (H) 23 Feb 2014 won 2 - 3 v Fulham (A) 12 Feb 2014 won 5 - 1 v Arsenal (H) 08 Feb 2014 drawn 1 - 1 v West Brom (A) 02 Feb 2014 Previous meetings Played at St. Mary's - 4 played, 3 SFC wins, 0 draws and 1 LFC win Played at Anfield - 6 played, 2 SFC wins, 1 draw and 3 LFC wins Total -10 played - 5 SFC wins ,1 draw and 4 LFC wins Saturday brings the visit of Liverpool for what should be a thrilling match and an opportunity to do the double after our win at Anfield back in September, Liverpool have been scoring goals for fun with SAS in rampant form but they do tend to concede having only the 11th best defence in the PL. We also have a good recent record against them so should be confident that we can get something from the match. Jos apart MP has a full squad to choose so hopefully Dejan will be back to strengthen the defence. After a lot of thought I think I'd start with Boruc Chambers Lovren Fonte Shaw Morgan Vic Jrod Gaston Adam Rickie Subs KD Clyne Maya JWP Davis Cork Gallagher I know Rickie has been off the boil but he should be really up for this one. I can see it being a scoredraw but I'm hoping we can just nick it so will go 3-2 Saints. COYR!
Why do i always feel confident about getting points against the big teams. Im calling it now ..2-1 saints
I'm not sure what to make of this match. I said on our board that I thought that may be down to which Saints actually turn up. That wasn't meant as a slight but you appear to be good one week and woeful the next. When you combine your situation with our defensive woes then who the hell truly knows what is going to happen. Still, for us it appears that BR is taking a 1 game at a time approach so we'll have to see what he comes up with. But I hope it's a good game. Naturally I hope for a win for us, a draw would be acceptable. So I'll hope for a good game and see what happens.
It's one of those games that I feel a lot more comfortable with than the likes of West Ham etc. We tend to play well against teams with a Liverpool style, who come out to attack and win the game themselves, rather than contain and counter. Of course it could easily go either way.......but at home I'd look for 3 points in this one.
That doesnt always work in your favour MMJ. You could argue our players will be more relaxed. Plenty of teams with allegedly nothing to play for end up winning their matches.
At Anfield, we played with SRL and Osvaldo, up front which ruined our usual pressing game. After about 60 minutes, when we went just 1 up front and introduced an extra player in the midfield, our pressing game took control, stopping Liverpool in their tracks. I am hoping the pundits and reporters will be recording this game as the "worst Liverpool performance of the season", just as they did with Arsenal, Man City etc, when our pressing game stopped them from dictating. But I have a very healthy respect for the way they are playing, which is why we have to get in their faces for the full 90+ minutes! AND take our chances when they come.
