Southampton will play host to Liverpool in the quarter final of the League Cup on Wednesday night. The Dutchman added that he did not expect many more changes to the line-up despite the Saints having a Premier League match with Aston Villa just three days later.
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Southampton team from: Soares, Bertrand, Caulker, Clasie, K Davis, S Davis, Gazzaniga, Juanmi, Long, Mane, Martina, Pelle, Ramirez, Stekelenburg, Tadic, Van Dijk, Romeu, Wanyama, Yoshida. “And if they can’t play, we have young lad, for sure, [Jerome] Sinclair from the U21s who can play”.
Despite their 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend, Southampton head into the game as the 8/5 favourites, with Liverpool on outside odds of 15/8.
Speaking to reporters at his pre-match press conference, as reported by the Liverpool Echo, the Reds boss said: “I’m absolutely satisfied with goalkeeper situation, sorry to kill your stories about German goalkeepers, Stoke or wherever”.
Now, Jurgen Klopp is set to give Sturridge more minutes as he hopes to get his season up and running, while captain Jordan Henderson also returns to the fray after injury.
Liverpool have beaten Carlisle and Bournemouth to reach this stage, and Klopp revealed on Tuesday he is well aware of the rivalry between his side and Southampton. “[Dusan] Tadic is hard to play against”. Then again, the same goes for everyone else still vying for the title, so what do I know?
But it was the men on the bench that were the big news before kick-off, with Henderson and Sturridge both among the substitutes.
“Daniel did what we spoke about before, that he should be our target for winning balls, once we got the ball be an option, the first option. We’ve all done it. You go back because you know the player, you know his character, you know what he brings to the team both on and off the field”.
Yet their laboured home displays still contrast starkly with their scintillating away form which delivered victory over Chelsea at the end of last month as well as City.
“It’s a great game to play tomorrow in a sold-out stadium and we’re playing against one of the biggest clubs in the world”, he said.
A safer bet lies with Liverpool to qualify at 1/1.
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A cup win this season, even in the lowly League Cup, would be a huge step in the right direction for a club wanting to get back to its former trophy-lifting ways.
