Southampton will hope to put their Premier League woes to one side at 8pm on Wednesday when they host table-toppers Liverpool in a mouthwatering Carabao Cup quarter-final at St Mary’s.
Saints were beaten 5-0 by Tottenham on Sunday and sacked manager Russell Martin soon after, but they put up a brave fight against the Reds when they faced Arne Slot’s side in the league last month.
The Saints came from behind to lead after an hour before Mohamed Salah’s late double ensured the points would go to Merseyside.
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to 19 games with a 2-2 home draw against Fulham on Saturday and will be keen to put up a strong defence of the trophy they won under Jurgen Klopp last season.
Southampton reached the semi-finals of this competition in 2022-23 when only an outstanding display from Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope and VAR prevented them from reaching Wembley.
[dugoutvideo id=”eyJrZXkiOiIiLCJwIjoic3F1YXdrYSIsInBsIjoiN2FtcmNLc1cifQ==” partner=”squawka”]
Southampton vs Liverpool predicted XIs
Southampton (5-3-2): Ramsdale; Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Walker-Peters, Manning; Dibling, Downes, Fernandes; Archer, Armstrong.
Liverpool (4-3-3): Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Gomez; Endo, Mac Allister, Jones; Gakpo, Nunez, Elliott.
- Read more: Southampton vs Liverpool predictions + stats
Southampton vs Liverpool team news
Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale hopes to return from injury in this game.
The England international has been unavailable since fracturing his finger in the first half of a 2-0 defeat to Wolves at Molineux in November.
Saints skipper Jack Stephens will serve the third match of his four-game suspension for violent conduct after pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair during last week’s 5-1 defeat to Chelsea.
Martin switched to a four-man defence against Tottenham on Sunday, but caretaker Simon Rusk boss may revert to a back five against the Premier League leaders.
Not signed up to Dabble yet? Here's how to claim the Bet £10+ & Receive £10 In Free Bets welcome offer: #AD 18+ 7-day free bet expiry. Stake not returned. Promotional Terms Apply. GambleAware.org Dabble sign-up offer: Bet £10+ & Receive £10 In Free Bets
Polish defender Jan Bednarek returned to the line-up against Spurs a month on from picking up a knee injury on international duty against Portugal, while Paul Onuachu was deemed fit enough for the bench, although he did not come on in the 5-0 home defeat.
Liverpool will be forced into a reshuffle at the back after Andy Robertson’s red card on Saturday ruled him out of the quarter-final through suspension.
Slot may have been planning to play Joe Gomez at left-back anyway, after admitting it was risky to continually give Robertson 90 minutes during Kostas Tsimikas’ injury-enforced absence.
Ibrahima Konate remains out, so Jarell Quansah will slot in alongside captain Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Reds’ rearguard while Caoimhim Kelleher could be back between the posts for recently-returned goalkeeper Alisson.
Read more: