Liverpool face Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off) as Arne Slot hints at rotating his team
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Liverpool boss Arne Slot points on the pitch
Liverpool boss Arne Slot could make several changes to his team for Saturday's game against Southampton
(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool host Southampton on Saturday afternoon as they move closer to a record-equaling 20th English top-flight title. With a win against the Saints, Arne Slot's side will go 16 points clear before second-placed Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday.
The Reds will not have had much time to recover for this weekend's fixture having been involved in a Champions League clash at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Liverpool were indebted to Alisson for making several fine saves against PSG before Harvey Elliott's late winner gave them a narrow 1-0 advantage heading into the second leg on Tuesday at Anfield.
But they should be confident of securing all three points on Saturday despite the tight turnaround. The Reds face a Southampton team who sit bottom of the table with just nine points after 27 matches.
And several Liverpool players have hinted they will feature against Ivan Juric's side. Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez are among the Reds players to have put pre-match graphics of the match on their Instagram stories.
Historically, players who share the graphics have tended to be involved in the match. Slot hinted in his pre-match press conference that he could make changes for Saturday's game, but insisted any rotation would have nothing to do with their second-leg clash against PSG in midweek.
“For me, the one against Southampton is by far the most important,” he said. “Not only because it is the first one we play, but it is a very, very important one for us.
“If - IF - I make the choice to play other players, that is because I think it is the biggest chance to win the game tomorrow and not because I want to rest them for the game against Paris Saint-Germain.
"The only way I make a change is because it’s maybe only two days in between. I might feel that playing someone else is a better choice because we have many players of equal quality.
“But that then only has to do with us getting a bigger chance of winning the game against Southampton than it has anything to do with the Paris Saint-Germain game. You do know what to expect from Paris Saint-Germain, you do know what to expect from Newcastle [in the Carabao Cup final]. But for me, the most important game is the one against Southampton."