Southampton’s return to the Premier League has been far from impressive, as their initial excitement of winning their first league match against Everton was quickly overshadowed by a 2-0 loss to Wolves before the international break. With nine defeats already in this Premier League campaign (W1, D1), they find themselves at the bottom of the standings, and now they have to face the formidable table-toppers, Liverpool.
Another defeat in this match would be concerning, as history shows that the seven previous teams who suffered at least ten defeats in their first 12 games were all eventually relegated. However, there is still hope for Southampton, as past records indicate that they have a chance in this match, considering they have only lost one of their last eight Premier League home games against the team leading the table at the start of the day (W2, D5).
The travelling Liverpool group will be optimistic that a different pattern will persist in this situation. Specifically, the fact that the team at the top has emerged victorious in 12 out of the previous 14 encounters against the Premier League’s lowest-ranked club (with 2 draws). Even without considering the intricate history, Liverpool, who are performing exceptionally well, will have a great deal of confidence as they have secured triumphs in 11 of the last 13 matches against these opponents (with 1 draw and 1 loss), with seven of those victories being achieved without conceding any goals.
Furthermore, the Reds typically bounce back strongly after their respective national team duties. They have only suffered defeat on two occasions in their last 26 Premier League games (with 19 wins and 5 draws) immediately following an international break. Manager Arne Slot would have utilized this time to prepare extensively for this particular match, knowing that a win here would make him one of the joint-fastest managers to reach ten Premier League victories in their career.
In terms of players to keep an eye on, it is worth noting that Adam Armstrong scored in their previous league encounter and has managed to secure the winning goal in three out of his last four matches where he found the back of the net. Cody Gakpo also got on the scoresheet in their last meeting, and interestingly, all six of his goals for the club this season have come after half-time.
An interesting statistic to note is that out of Liverpool’s 11 matches in the Premier League this season, only one has resulted in more than 3.5 goals being scored.
