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After a few days of glorious reflection on how we took Watford apart on Sunday afternoon, it’s time to move on and focus in on the next game. Pretty flipping good though wasn’t it? And what a great time to be in charge of the RAWK preview thread. With the reds sitting top of the league (please see evidence below) after yet another scintillating performance, things are looking rosy and it’s a joy to write about.
See, we're topThe two week gap between games is of course a bit of a pain in the arse; like everybody else at the moment a game every day would do me nicely. Alas, that may prove too demanding for Jurgen’s pressing style (Twitter egg alert). Plus, heading into an international break on such a high note is surely better than heading into one after a devastating low, such as, oh I don’t know, an away defeat at Hull. What certainly isn’t ideal is our lads flying here, there and everywhere to represent their countries, the major standouts being Phil and Bob who have a game Wednesday morning GMT away in the nearby location of…Peru.
Ordinarily the team picks itself when in such good form; unchanged from Watford other than Lovren back in for Lucas would be a no-brainer if not for the travelling and the inevitable knock or two that will be picked up. Cause for a bit of concern perhaps, although in that 6-1 last season it was Sturridge and Origi who shone, suddenly the reds have options and strength in depth which I think will be put to the test here. Opportunities beckon, perhaps, for some on the fringe.
SouthamptonThe first time I saw Southampton play live was in September 2009. That night they sat routed to the bottom of League 1 with a whopping points tally of minus 1. Bristol Rovers were the opponents; I travelled down to St Mary’s with a mate who’s a massive Rovers fan. The Southampton eleven contained Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Morgan Schneiderlin. Despite the two future Liverpool players getting on the scoresheet, Bristol Rovers smashed in 95th minute winner to take the points in a 3-2 thriller. As the home stands emptied the away end broke into a chorus of “we are going up”. 7 years on and Southampton are Premiership top half regulars and Bristol Rovers are still in League 1, via seasons in League 2 and the Conference. It’s a funny old game.
I mention this not in an attempt to bore you all with pointless nostalgia but to point out just how well Southampton have done in such a short space of time to move on from those dark days. Their work in the transfer market has been fantastic, making huge profits from, well, mainly us, and then reinvesting that money and managing to improve. They are currently on a remarkable run of breaking their record points tally in the premier league three seasons in a row, in terms of final position in the table they have also improved for the last seven years in a row, and in Claude Puel they seem to have another manager that promotes youth and good, attacking football.
By looking at the table you would assume it’s been an average to disappointing start to the season for them, but since a rough start and a settling in period for the new gaffer they have come on pretty well in the league, and in Europe managed a 2-1 victory over Inter Milan. A far cry from 95th minute defeats in League 1.After successive defeats against Chelsea and Hull however, you can be sure that they will be reeling and determined to come back stronger when Liverpool come to town. We can expect them to try to dominate the ball and be adventurous; exciting for their fans but potentially mouth-watering for us as well. Reading the forums the fans seem a bit split at the moment, with some feeling they are guilty of a bit too much sideways passing in their pursuit of a possession based style, despite being armed with a lot of pace, Redmond in particular on their right offers a real threat. While they may be struggling to create chances, in Charlie Austin they have a very good goalscorer who will fancy being given an opportunity or two by our defence.
Past encountersI love a good reminisce over old games and this fixture stirs up lots of memories. 3-3 at the Dell from 3-0 up in our treble winning season. The aforementioned 6-1. Coutinho’s screamer in the cup under Brendan Rodgers. The home defeat that ruined our great start in 13/14, Dejan Lovren striking the winner. Last season’s capitulation from 2 goals up.
The absolute stand out for me though is the trip to St Mary’s back in March 2014. A free flowing, goal mad, defensively vulnerable Liverpool side, beginning to be spoken about as title contenders. Sound familiar? A good Southampton team were swept aside, the travelling Kop stayed behind singing Poetry in Motion and for one of the few times in my 24 years of existence I truly believed we would win the league. There are parallels to be drawn.
Currently it is much earlier in the season, and whatever the result next Saturday we have it all to play for. But these are the types of tricky fixture that the best teams, the title winning teams, win by hook or by crook. A 1-0 victory here would be as big a statement as any 6-1 or 4-0.
I won’t go down the route of predicting teams because, with the internationals, who knows?! The important thing is that we have very good options and strength in depth compared to some of our squads from seasons past and I’m confident we can come out of this one with another three points.
Up the reds!
