Southampton vs Liverpool. Premier League.
St. Mary's StadiumAttendance31,848.
Saturday 19 November 2016 13:53, UK
Adam Lallana is unlikely to feature for Liverpool as they look to strengthen their lead at the top of the Premier League with victory at Southampton.
The midfielder, who has been in impressive form for club and country, suffered a groin injury in England's 2-2 draw with Spain at Wembley on Tuesday.
Southampton sit in 10th place and will be looking to halt Liverpool's impressive form with Jurgen Klopp's side thrashing Watford 6-1 in their last league outing.
Liverpool sit top of the league with a one-point advantage over Chelsea, who take on Middlesbrough on Nissan Super Sunday.
Team news
Fraser Forster and Dusan Tadic have been passed fit to start for Southampton after suffering injuries while on international duty.
Tadic could yet require a protective mask to protect his nose injury, but of greater concern to manager Claude Puel will be the late fitness tests Ryan Bertrand, Cedric Soares, James Ward-Prowse and Shane Long are to undergo.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is also fit after a knock, but Alex McCarthy and Matt Targett miss out.
Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho may be a doubt for the trip to St Mary's.
The Brazil international underwent a precautionary scan on Thursday having returned from South America the previous night.
Georginio Wijnaldum is set to return for the visitors.
Opta
Southampton have lost their last two Premier League games - their first successive league defeats since February/March 2016.
Claude Puel's side have won just one of their last five league games. However, the manager will be encouraged by the fact the Saints have lost only one of their last 10 games.
Puel will not, however, be encouraged by the amount of points his team have dropped from winning positions this season, with eight points falling by the wayside.
Liverpool have won seven of their last eight league games and are unbeaten in their last nine, in what is their best run under Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool have four former Southampton players in Sadio Mane, Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Mane.
Merson's prediction
This should be a real, real good game. For Liverpool, these are the times you've got to take advantage. Other teams will come back from international duty, look at the fixtures and think: "Wait a minute, we've got Champions League and Europa League this week, do we rest players or not?"
Liverpool don't have to do that. Jurgen Klopp can play his best team, tell them to have a couple days off in the week, and that's your advantage.
Southampton have had a couple of shocking results, being completely outplayed by Chelsea, and then going to Hull and losing. All of a sudden, they're on a bit of a slump with the Europa League game coming up.
Three weeks ago this looked like a difficult game, and all of a sudden it doesn't now.
Liverpool so far this season are the most exciting team in the Premier League, but there's a long way to go.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3
Betting
Liverpool are Sky Bet's even-money favourites for the victory, with Southampton up against odds of 5/2 while the draw is a 13/5 chance.
Jurgen Klopp's men arrive at St Mary's as the 5/2 shots to win the Premier League, with only Manchester City shorter odds at 2/1, while the Saints are 9/2 just to secure a top-six finish.
Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino share favouritism in the first goalscorer betting at 5/1, with Charlie Austin following at 6/1.
