Southampton will be over the moon after having defeated Liverpool in the 2nd leg of the EFL Cup and will now most probably be facing Manchester United who have a 2-0 advantage going into their 2nd leg against Hull City.
The Saints were better than Liverpool over the two legs and won both of them 1-0. Ideally, they should have wrapped up proceedings in the first leg itself where the Reds were completely outplayed. But the heroics of Karius and Redmond’s profligacy ensured they carried a slender 1 goal advantage into the 2nd leg.
But Liverpool’s miserable form made sure that Southampton got away with it as a disjointed performance by the home side and a late goal by the visiting side ensured Liverpool’s 2nd home loss in succession after having gone an eternity being undefeated. Jurgen Klopp has to now go back to the drawing board after having won just 1 of their last 7 games which is a terrible run of form for a team who were supposedly considered favourites for the title along with Chelsea a couple of months back.
But Southampton can put their feet up as their next assignment is against Arsenal in what will be a 4th round FA Cup match. Puel would have got a taste of victory and won’t be making too many changes now as he would like to carry on the momentum into the league.
PREDICTED SOUTHAMPTON XI VS ARSENAL (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Forster will be in goal and after having kept a number of clean sheets lately, he’ll be a confident man under the bar. Ryan Bertrand is likely to be at left-back and will look to push out from the back and nullify the threat of Bellerin and Walcott as much as possible. Van Dijk is unlikely to play any part and it is likely that Stephens will line-up alongside Yoshida and the new look pair have to be at their best. Soares might be replaced at right-back by Martina.
MIDFIELD
Romeu will be the deep lying midfielder and has to be on his toes and replicate his recent displays to keep the Gunners at bay. Ward-Prowse might not be risked and it is likely that Clasie will come in his place and take a more defensive role. Hojbjerg is expected to start and will complete the trio. It will be an interesting battle between the 3 midfielders of either side and the trio who can follow orders to the tee are likely to be on the winning side.
ATTACK
Joshua Sims can come into the starting eleven and will take up a wing role. Tadic might get a rest with Redmond and Long completing the attack. Rodriguez is unlikely to be risked.
