Liverpool will host Southampton with their quadruple hopes still alive. The Reds make their way back to their Merseyside home after defeating Chelsea 1-0 in extra time. Millwall defeated the Saints 2-1 in Saturday’s Championship match.
Preview (Liverpool vs. Southampton)
Since signing his first Premier League title and sixth Champions League crown, Jurgen Klopp has added seven pieces of silverware to the Liverpool cabinet. However, the German manager hailed Sunday’s EFL Cup victory over a timid Chelsea as the most “special” honor of his managerial career thus far. Following 120 minutes of thrilling action at Wembley, where it appeared that another final between Liverpool and Chelsea would be decided from the dreaded 12-yard line, Klopp announced his resignation. However, Virgil van Dijk made the most important contribution of all, heading in the game’s winning goal 118 minutes in.
A decimated Liverpool, who finished the match with a handful of teenage academy products on the pitch. He may still be licking their wounds from their Wembley warfare. Nothing can dampen the joy of a record-extending 10th EFL Cup victory. Already without a full XI of injured players and witnessing two more enforcers depart on crutches. The joy among Klopp’s group will have to subside in a few hours. Liverpool attempts to advance past the FA Cup’s fifth round on Wednesday. The only other time they have done so since 2015 was when they took the 2021–22 crown home with them.
Arsenal and Norwich City have already lost to Liverpool’s FA Cup brilliance this year, and the Premier League leaders’ victory over Chelsea marked their fourth straight victory in all competitions. Liverpool’s celebrations clashed with Southampton’s depression during the last weekend of February. Russell Martin’s team lost to Neil Harris’s Millwall on Saturday. It was their third straight loss at home in the Championship and their second straight loss overall. After Che Adams’ header early in the first half, Southampton lost 2-1 to Hull City four days earlier.
Team News
The first domestic title of the season was won by Liverpool, but not before suffering severe injuries. Ryan Gravenberch was taken off the pitch on a stretcher following a horrific challenge from Moises Caicedo. Due to their late fitness tests, Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, and Dominik Szoboszlai—who were captured on camera going crazy during the celebrations—were also excluded from the matchday squad on Sunday. This forced Klopp to acknowledge that, following their exhausting performance at Wembley, he might find it difficult to field a full lineup for the midweek match.
The Reds’ confirmed absentees are Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Thiago Alcantara (muscle), Ben Doak (knee), Joel Matip (knee), Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee), Diogo Jota (knee), Alisson Becker (hamstring), and Curtis Jones (shin). Only Jones might return to action prior to next month’s international break. Speaking of players departing on crutches, Ryan Fraser, the Southampton winger on loan from Newcastle, needed this assistance following a knee injury he suffered during his team’s defeat by Millwall. Martin has already declared the Scotsman ineligible for the tournament’s fifth round. Fraser goes to the St. Mary’s infirmary alongside Juan Larios (unspecified) and Ross Stewart (muscle).
Liverpool 2-1 Southampton
For more football previews, click here
