The only all-Premier League clash of the League Cup quarter-finals takes place on Wednesday when Southampton host Liverpool at St Mary's. The Reds have won this competition eight times before while the Saints have never managed to win it, even though they have reached the final once, back in 1979. Last February Liverpool won 2-0 at Southampton, with goals from Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling. The two sides have already met at Anfield this season, and the Saints clinched a 1-1 draw.
Southampton will need a confidence boost as their Premier League results have been unconvincing lately. They have two losses, two draws and two wins out of their last six games, a perfectly mixed bag of results that leaves them exactly at the middle of the Premier League table. They have lost two league matches in a row now, after bowing down 3-1 to Manchester City last weekend. In the League Cup they battered MK Dons 6-0 before edging past Aston Villa 2-1 in the previous round. Jose Fonte might miss out due to a knee injury, while Jay Rodriguez remains out for a month.
Liverpool have not won a trophy since 2012, when they have lifted the League Cup. With big names like Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea already out of the competition, it would be a good chance for Jurgen Klopp to grab some silverware in his first season at Anfield. Last weekend the Reds beat Swansea 1-0 thanks to a James Milner penalty kick and they are now just four points away from the last Champions League spot. So far Liverpool didn't have a smooth ride in the League Cup, they needed penalties to go past Carlisle United and they squeezed past Bournemouth 1-0 in the previous round. Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson might be given places in the starting eleven after substitute appearances last weekend.
Probable line-ups:
Southampton: Stekelenburg - Yoshida, Caulker, van Dijk, Bertrand - Wanyama, Romeu - Long, Ward-Prowse, Davis - Pelle
Liverpool: Mignolet - Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno - Milner, Lucas, Henderson - Ibe, Sturridge, Firmino
My prediction: Liverpool to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Southampton win - 2.70 Draw - 3.40 Liverpool win - 2.80
sharpe 8 years ago
There was not any surprises in the other quarter finals yesterday and after today's victory of Liverpool we could say that the most expected teams took their places in the semis. The result is really significant about Liverpool dominance in that game and they have really good chance to be on the final. The draw could be...
There was not any surprises in the other quarter finals yesterday and after today's victory of Liverpool we could say that the most expected teams took their places in the semis. The result is really significant about Liverpool dominance in that game and they have really good chance to be on the final. The draw could be funny thing though and can place them against local rivals Everton or Man City and both possible matchups would be very interesting I think.
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GREGJO 8 years ago
Klopp said the Hungarian international, Adam Bogdan will be the starting goalkeeper tonight. He played only once in the current season but this match will be his first one under the management of Klopp. As I wrote he played only once: against Carlisle in the Capital One Cup where he played really good and saved three penalties....
Klopp said the Hungarian international, Adam Bogdan will be the starting goalkeeper tonight. He played only once in the current season but this match will be his first one under the management of Klopp. As I wrote he played only once: against Carlisle in the Capital One Cup where he played really good and saved three penalties. I think Liverpool are huge value for the win, they have been fantastic away from home this season (they knocked out Chelsea and Manchester City as well). Southampton have hit a bit of bad form recently (two loss in a row) so I'm really surprised Liverpool are not favourites for this match. According to the news the Saints will be without the services of Pellé so I think we'll see a low scoring match with away win. My prediction is: 0-2.
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