Liverpool coach Arne Slot
Image Credits: Getty Images
Liverpool are set to face Southampton without some key members of the club’s first-team set-up.
After their midweek exertion in the UEFA Champions League, the Reds return to domestic league action this Saturday with a must-win home game against the Premier League’s bottom club Southampton.
The Saints have secured just nine points this season and are a massive 13 points adrift of safety. This means that they have almost no chance of surviving the drop, indicating that their season’s aspirations might well be to surpass Derby’s lowest points haul in Premier League history, set in 2007/08 (11).
Ivan Juric’s side will be desperate for some positive result, but it appears impossible on paper, given that Southampton simultaneously own both the league’s worst attack and defence.
Liverpool are the Premier League’s most potent goalscorers and come into this game on the back of three clean sheets in all competitions. So, while captain Virgil van Dijk has revealed that he expects the Saints to pose a considerable threat to Liverpool, the stats point to a Liverpool win.
However, although Southampton have lost their last seven games at Anfield by an aggregate score of 22-1, their chance of getting a result here is boosted by a few Liverpool absences.
Firstly, Liverpool coach Arne Slot will serve his second match ban for the red card he received in the Merseyside Derby last month. So, the Liverpool coach and his assistant, Sipke Hulshoff, will not be on the touchline for this game as they complete their FA ban.
Slot will be replaced by John Heitinga, who was also in the dugout for Liverpool’s last Premier League game against Newcastle United.
“It’s not ideal, but I’ve said before, with John Heitinga, I have a very good replacement,” Slot said during Friday’s press conference ahead of the game on Saturday.
“He did so well at Ajax Amsterdam and he did really well in his first game in charge as well.”
Another member of the first-team squad who could miss the game against Southampton is Cody Gakpo. The Dutchman suffered a minor training ground injury on Tuesday and missed the club’s last Champions League.
Slot confirmed that he is not back to full training and may be unavailable for Saturday’s game.
“He didn’t train yesterday yet, so let’s see if he can train with us today,” said the head coach of Gakpo.
“Again, [a] close call it will probably be. It’s not a long-term injury but he still had a bit of pain yesterday so he was not able to train. Let’s see where he is today, so I can’t give you the answer yet.”
Elsewhere, Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley and Tyler Morton are set to miss the clash vs Southampton.
Morton needed surgery to correct a shoulder injury, while Gomez was also required to undergo surgery to correct a hamstring issue towards the end of February, having suffered a re-injury upon his return to action against Plymouth.
So Gomez is expected to be out for two to three months, as Slot confirmed.
Bradley is also expected to be sidelined for much of the remaining months in the window.
However, without the injured trio, Liverpool have managed to keep their push towards the Premier League title alive, going unbeaten in 24 league games.
Read more: What Arne Slot can still do on matchdays after FA suspension
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