The Liverpool vs Southampton match will be played on Wednesday, January 25th, 2017 at Anfield, home of Liverpool. This is the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final. Southampton won the first leg 1-0 at St Mary’s a fortnight ago.

STATS

• Liverpool have won 1 in their last 6, 1-0 at Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup 3rd round replay.
• Stoke City won 1-0 at Anfield in the second leg of last season’s EFL Cup semi-final, the last team to do so before Swansea at the weekend (W15, D8)
• Southampton have lost 4 of their last 7 games (W3, L4)
• There here have been -2.5 goals in 5 of Liverpool’s last 7 fixtures.
• There have been +2.5 goals in 5 of Southampton’s last 8 games.

HEAD TO HEAD

The two sides met at St Mary’s in November 2016 and fought to a 0-0 draw. The last meeting at Anfield ended 1-1 in October 2015. In between, Southampton won 3-2 at St Mary’s in March 2016.

Liverpool and Southampton have met once before in the semi-final of this competition. In 1987, the first leg ended 0-0 at Southampton, with Liverpool winning the second leg, 3-0.

Southampton’s last win at Anfield came in September 2013, 1-0. Their last cup win came in 1960, when they won 2-1 in Round 3 of this competition.

Head to head matches: Liverpool FC - Southampton FC

11.01.2017	EFL	Southampton FC	Liverpool FC	1:0
19.11.2016	Prem	Southampton FC	Liverpool FC	0:0
20.03.2016	Prem	Southampton FC	Liverpool FC	3:2

LIVERPOOL NEWS

Having rotated his squad at Plymouth, Jürgen Klopp watched aghast as Swansea took control of the Premier League fixture at the weekend. While he was impressed by his squad’s character in fighting back to 2-2 from 0-2, he was horrified to lose the game to the Welsh club.

The German is expected to field his strongest line-up with Wembley as a prize. More importantly, he needs a convincing performance and big win before the visit of Chelsea to Anfield this weekend. It’s a must-win fixture for the Reds, with the objective of saving their season.

Joel Matip returned for the Swansea game following confusion over his eligibility, and Klopp hopes Mamadou Sakho will be allowed to turn out for this match as well. Other than that, he has no new worries although Jordan Henderson’s troublesome ankle injury may rule him out once more. 

Latest matches: Liverpool FC

21.01.2017	Prem	Liverpool FC	Swansea City	2:3	L
18.01.2017	FA C	Plymouth Argyle	Liverpool FC	0:1	W
15.01.2017	Prem	Manchester United	Liverpool FC	1:1	D
11.01.2017	EFL	Southampton FC	Liverpool FC	1:0	L
08.01.2017	FA C	Liverpool FC	Plymouth Argyle	0:0	D

SOUTHAMPTON NEWS

Southampton’s injury list is longer than most Premier League combined. Six out, including Charlie Austin and Sofiane Boufane, while Virgil van Dijk and Steven Davis are both doubtful.

Having beaten Norwich (eventually) in the FA Cup, Saints followed that up with a trouncing of defending Premier League champions Leicester City at the weekend. The 3-0 win ended a run of 4 consecutive defeats in league matches but having won at the Emirates earlier in the season, Anfield will hold little fear for them. It’s been a mixed season for Claude Puel in his first campaign but their away form in Europe may not have always yielded the results they deserved, it’s certainly been something on which they have built.

Liverpool won’t be able to take this game lightly and Southampton will take strength from Stoke’s win at the same stage last season. It’s a big ask for them to win but they are capable of the upset needed to make it to the final. 

Latest matches: Southampton FC

22.01.2017	Prem	Southampton FC	Leicester City	3:0	W
18.01.2017	FA C	Southampton FC	Norwich City	1:0	W
14.01.2017	Prem	Burnley FC	Southampton FC	1:0	L
11.01.2017	EFL	Southampton FC	Liverpool FC	1:0	W
07.01.2017	FA C	Norwich City	Southampton FC	2:2	D

SUMMING UP!

Of the 2 semi-finals, this one is the one in the balance. Defending a solitary 1-0 lead is good for the Saints but it hardly offers them much room for error. Liverpool’s form hasn’t been far short of wretched and Saturday’s defeat at home to Swansea almost torpedoed their title hopes for this season. They desperately need to win this match to give themselves confidence ahead of this weekend’s meeting with Chelsea.

So, Southampton to reach Wembley it is…