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Southampton will take on Liverpool at the St.Mary's Stadium on Friday night in a clash that could have a direct effect upon the standings of both sides in the Premier League table. For Jurgen Klopp's men, this will be a chance to assert their supremacy and go back to the top of the table after Manchester City pipped them to it with a convincing 2-0 win over Cardiff City on Wednesday night.
Southampton, who are on 33 points and are ahead of Burnley and Cardiff City in the relegation zone, will be hoping to get some points out of this fixture so that they are no longer handed with the threat of going down. Although relegation seems highly unlikely, no one can foresee the future and a sudden surge in form for Cardiff may turn things around. Therefore, Southampton will be keen on keeping things on their hand for as long as they can.
The Saints will also be banking on a vociferous St.Mary's crowd to help them tide over the threat that Liverpool present and manager Ralph Hassenhutl will be quietly confident going into this game. The Austrian has managed to stage a turnaround in Southampton's fortunes and they come into this game on the back of two impressive victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion.
Liverpool, who come into this contest on the back of a lucky 2-1 win over Spurs on Sunday, thanks to a Roberto Firmino strike and a clumsy own-goal, will be looking forward to going back to the top of the table. Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, along with Brazilian centre-forward Firmino will be the men to look up to and there is no telling what kind of terror the trio can wreak when they are on song.
Predicted lineups:
Southampton:
Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand, Maya Yoshida, Jan Bednarek, Yan Valery
Midfielders: Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, Oriel Romeu, James Ward Prowse
Attackers: Nathan Redmond, Stuart Armstrong, Charlie Austin
Liverpool:
Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Defenders: Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Trent Alexander Arnold
Midfielders: Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner
Attackers: Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah.
