Southampton vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Salah strikes twice in thriller

Southampton have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (drawn three, lost 10) – a 1-0 home victory in January 2021.

However, the Saints have only lost one of their last eight Premier League home games against sides starting the day top of the table (W2 D5), and are unbeaten in their last four (W2 D2 – including a 1-0 win over Liverpool in January 2021) since a 0-1 defeat to Manchester City in May 2018.

They are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this season (with seven goals), while only Crystal Palace (5.1 per cent) have a lower shot conversion rate than Saints (6.2 per cent). Just 30.1 per cent of Southampton’s shots have been on target this term (34/113), a league-low ratio.

Overall, Southampton have lost nine of their 11 Premier League games this season (W1 D1). Only seven sides in English top-flight history have reached 10 defeats in 12 or fewer matches from the start of a campaign, with all seven going on to be relegated.

Russell Martin called December an “exciting month” in his press conference, adding that “we should be excited about the challenge”.

“We showed the guys the table how it looked at this point last season, and how much it changed by the end of December. It’s such an exciting month.

“People talk about the difficulty of the games and the level of competition we face in the next four or five games, but it’s what we’ve worked so hard for and we should be excited about the challenge.

“Teams have shown in recent weeks that you can pick up big results against big teams and good opposition. We’re going to have to at some point if we’re going to achieve what we want to achieve.”

He added that Liverpool are “the best team in the country at the moment on current form”, and went on to praise Arne Slot’s start as boss.

“When you go into a club that’s built on something for so long with top players that have bought into that, he hasn’t changed too much. It’s the best management at that point to continue some of the brilliant things they were good at, and put his own spin on it, which he has done.”

Liverpool have of course been on excellent form of late, and their last five matches have thrown up four wins and a draw – a hard-fought 2-2 against Arsenal at the Emirates.

In the meantime, they’ve beaten teams such as Brighton, Chelsea and Aston Villa in the league, while also landing convincing wins over Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig.

Southampton’s results could hardly be more different, with the Saints sitting bottom of the league and with four losses and one win from their last five.

That win came against Everton, with recent losses against Arsenal, Leicester, Man City and Wolves. As things stand, Russell Martin’s side are five points adrift of Wolves in 17th.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arne Slot said that “it would be a bit strange if I said I’m not enjoying the position we are in now but it has also been 11 games”.

“We all know other teams are capable of having the same runs as us. We like where we are so if we want to stay there, we have to keep winning games.

“I am not so worried about the first game after the break. My worry is always the game plan of our opponents. It can have a bit of influence but the most influence is our game plan and our intensity compared to who we are playing.”

Slot also added that Southampton are “bottom of the league but they don’t play at all like this”, so today will “be another challenge” for his side.

This will be the first Premier League match between the side starting the day bottom of the table and the side starting the day top since April 2023 – Southampton’s 3-3 draw away to Arsenal. League leaders are unbeaten in 14 such matches (W12 D2) since Wolves won 2-1 against Manchester United in February 2011.

Today will be the 97th match between these two sides – Liverpool have won 50 so far, with Southampton winning 24 and 22 ending as draws.

These two sides did meet last season despite Southampton being in the Championship – Liverpool ran out 3-0 winners in an FA Cup tie in February.

The last time these two sides met in the league was in May 2023, when they played out a 4-4 draw!

Arne Slot has made three changes to the side that beat Villa last time out, with one of them a forced change as Conor Bradley replaces the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold.

In midfield, Dominik Szoboszlai comes in for Alexis Mac Allister, while on the left wing Cody Gakpo replaces Luis Diaz.

Russell Martin has made five changes to the side that lost to Wolves before the international break.

Alex McCarthy replaces the injured Aaron Ramsdale in goal, while in defence Ryan Manning and Jan Bednarek drop out for Ryan Fraser and Flynn Downes, with the latter moving into midfield.

Southampton XI: McCarthy; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Fraser, Downes, Lallana, Fernandes, Dibling, Archer, Onuachu.

Subs: Lumley, Sugawara, Bree, Manning, Aribo, Ugochukwu, Kamaldeen, Brereton Diaz, Archer

Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo.

Subs: Jaros, Davies, Gomez, Endo, Diaz, Mac Allister, Elliott, Quansah, Morton.

Line-ups should be coming out at around 12.45pm, so here’s a quick reminder of the team news.

Southampton have been dealt a major blow with Aaron Ramsdale suffering a hand injury on international duty, while Jan Bednarek has been sidelined as well.

Liverpool will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliott. But Virgil van Dijk is fit to face his former side after withdrawing from Netherlands duty.