Liverpool vs Southampton: Saints suffer availability blows all over the pitch
Liverpool make the trip down south to play Southampton in the Premier League on Friday night, and the Saints will be without key men across the pitch.
The Reds loaned Danny Ings to the coastal side and although they will buy him at the end of the season, Ings isn’t available for the game because of the terms of that agreement – reported that official Southampton website.
That will mean Shane Long will have to step up and replace the once-capped England international, which will weaken the Saints side and make their attacking threat easier to deal with.
Long works hard and can bring others into the game, but the 32-year-old has scored just once this season and has just 28 in 174 career appearances for Southampton. Not great returns.
More from Rush The Kop
- Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home
- Liverpool making late comebacks all the rage once again
- Wolves tilt gives Klopp opportunity to tinker with lineup following international duty
- Players to watch in the matchup with Wolves
- Predicting Liverpool’s Next Five Premier League Fixtures
Jannik Vestergaard joined from Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2018 and has been an important part of the side, largely repaying that £22.50 million splashed out on him. But, manager Ralph Hasenhüttl said that he may not be available for the game.
If Vestergaard is still unfit, it’ll be up to Academy graduate Jack Stephens to step up to the plate and stop Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino or Mohamed Salah from running riot and adding to their season’s tally.
There is one player who will not be taking part in the Liverpool game, and that’s Mario Lemina. Hasenhüttl stated that Lemina will not be part of the squad after training this week because he still needs more rest.
And so the Saints will have problems in every area of the pitch as they go into the Friday night’s game. With one striker out, his replacement a non-scorer, a big money defender looking unsure and an important midfielder still missing things could get ugly.
We have another chance to keep the pressure on Manchester City with a win at St Marys, and their injury problems make that even more likely.