Four months of poor results are catching up with Saints now in terms of League position and now we go to Anfield traditionally not a place we often get a result at, but things haven't gone well for Liverpool either, so can we get three points to guarantee safety and move up the table again.

Newcastle's shock win at Leicester City last night was good news for Liverpool but bad news for Saints fans, Newcastle who a few weeks ago looked odds on for a last day relegation nail biter at Fulham are now up to 13th and two points above us, the good news is that we have two games in hand.

But for Liverpool it has given them a slight ray of hope, they are 9 points behind Leicester who sit in 3rd place still, but they too have two games in hand and they know if they can win them both they have a chance albeit slight of coming in on the rails for a Champions League place.

This will be the rallying cry from Jurgen Klopp to his players and no doubt this will stir their emotions in terms of their bank accounts.

The Reds are still not guaranteed even a Europa League spot and they now have no room for yet more points dropped at home.

But they like Saints have injury woes, but although that has made them vulnerable at the back, they can still be a potent force going forward, although at Anfield they seem to be mainly cold of late, although as we know from experience when a team hasn't won for a number of games or a certain player hasn't scored for three years, you just know that will end when they face Saints.

The good news for Saints though is that they will have Jannik Vestergaard available after his red card and suspension was overturned on appeal.

But that poses a dilemma for Ralph Hasenhuttl does he restore Vestergaard to the middle of the defence or does he keep the back four as it ended the game against Leicester or indeed does he revert to a back three and employ wing backs to counter Liverpool's attacking threat down the flanks.

This is going to be the most interesting question that will be answered an hour before kick off.

Sadly it looks like Saints will be without Danny Ings who was the matchwinner back in January, although it looks like he and Oriol Romeu will be available for the final games of the season.

One person who will be playing though is Fraser Forster who will rotate with Alex McCarthy in the run in to the end of the season.

For Saints it is now all about having a strong finish to the season and in truth once we get this game out of the way we have a good chance of doing that.

There are positive whispers coming out of St Mary's about next season with rumours of a new owner and investment and that will surely please Ralph Hasenhuttl who has seen a promising season ruined by injury.

A trip to Anfield is usually not good for Saints, certainly not in the last few years since our last win there when Shane Long scored in the League Cup semi final four years ago, the Reds attack with pace and that is something we are not good at handling, however it may suit us to sit deep and then go on the counter attack.

Sadly a defeat will mean the League table won't look very good come the end of the weekend's fixtures, but as I say let's get this one over with and then concentrate on three straight home games to get us up the table.

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 11:03 - May 8 It would be nice to guarantee safety under our own steam rather than having to cheer on Burnley on Monday. I have had my eye on the Palace game as one we ought to win, tonight though - a battling draw is I suppose possible but my pessimistic head says defeat. That's what usually happens. What is this about investment rumours? Not that asset-stripper mentioned the other day I hope?

3

saintmark1976 added 11:30 - May 8 SanMarco, if I was Ralph I would be praying that the current owners stay in charge. Given our results since Christmas, taken with an a pathetic effort at Wembley, two recent 9-0 defeats and the longest run of consecutive defeats in the club’s history, would any new owners want him to be responsible for their investment going forward? I seriously doubt it.
3

JoeEgg added 13:57 - May 8 So the penny is beginning to drop - and about time Nick. Our 'best ever season' will be remembered, as saintmark reminds us, for a quite horrendous sequence of events since Christmas. Liverpool are on a bad run and must be thanking their lucky stars that a relatively easy three points awaits them tonight. As for the Saints - we have Southampton v.Fulham on the horizon - surely the biggest six pointer for many seasons! Three home games to play? From what I've seen recently we cant be favourites to beat anyone right now. Football is an unpredictable game so I hope we can still turn it around because at this precise moment a season or two in the Championship for Saints is still a definite possibility.

2

underweststand added 14:57 - May 8 Ralph made it clear that (effectively) everyone will be playing for a place next season. After winning the Prem. last season Liverpool had one of their worst seasons in decades with 6 defeats already at Anfield and both clubs have had major injury set-backs, but for which both clubs might be sitting much higher in the table. We've been over-reliant on Danny Ings for goals, and even after his return he didn't look a shadow of his former self and his various replacements haven't found the net either. On the face of it, the game is wide open and after last week's 10 man siege exercise, we can only hope that a similar shut-out might help us to get a result again. After the dramatic ups-and-downs this season, It would surely make Ralph's day if he could end up getting a double over Klopp this time around.

1

UgandaSaint added 15:32 - May 8 With Kevin "Liverpool's" Friend as referee we can forget about getting a point tonight, do you remember his biased performance in the Saints v Liverpool game in 2015? Saints had two obvious penalties not given in the first few minutes and he then proceeded to give every decision Liverpool's way. Bet your house on Liverpool tonight.
1

Boris1977 added 19:25 - May 8 Feel for Salisu and surprised Walcott is starting. It's A mediocre Liverpool at anfield and we're saints. Lets hope for a positive 3-0
2

sandywelsh added 19:32 - May 8 Salisu should have started ahead of Stephens he is a much better player.
3

codge added 19:50 - May 8 Salisu definitely should have been starting tonight.
2

ElijahK added 22:05 - May 8 Simple game today where we simply lost as we didn’t have good enough players! If we’d had Ings playing then we’d have gotten that goal before they scored the opener and the goal when Allison messed up, along with having a decent enough keeper to come out and save that first goal they scored! The only things that I seriously blame Ralph for is of WHY did he play Forster, and why wasn’t Redmond taken off instead of Tella! But at the end of the day we simply didn’t have a good enough team to win this game, and that’s just down to the likes of Gao!

1

Boris1977 added 22:21 - May 8 Another game where the opposition know the points are in the bag before the kick off. 'Get the boots on, knock it about a bit, score a couple of effortless goals, don't get your kit too dirty, well done lads, kit in the bin and boots in the box. Prepare for the next game as we'll have to work for the next win, this was a nice training session.' I had us down for a 3-0 loss. I guess 2- 0 is a positive loss. This great season is going to see us 4th bottom of the league. Doesn't it make you proud.

2

codge added 23:02 - May 8 Walcott does nothing again please do not sign him permanently. Felt bad for KWP had a great game up until the second goal.
3

AirFlorida added 10:30 - May 9 Yep, another positive loss if you want to spin it. Something fundamental has to change to break this rhythm of results and lack of confidence. The problem is nothing fundamental will (or can) change so next season could be our comeuppance..
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls