Liverpool lineup vs Southampton: Phillips dropped, no Thiago

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Liverpool (Photo by Jon Super – Pool/Getty Images) /

Here is the Liverpool lineup for the Saints game.

Liverpool will be looking to get back to winning ways as they play Southampton at Saint Mary’s on Monday night.

The Reds had a dull ending to 2020 as they drew their last two fixtures against West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United. However, Jurgen Klopp’s side will be willing to start 2021 with a win. That said, Southampton is a team who’ve had a pretty decent season so far and are in contention for European spots.

The Saints are currently ninth in the Premier League table with 26 points, three behind the top four. Ralph Hassenhuttl has a pretty decent team at his disposal and of course, former Liverpool man Danny Ings is someone to be wary of. The 28-year-old has so far amassed six goals and three assists in 13 appearances across all competitions.

Liverpool have been unbeaten in their last eight matches against the Saints, winning seven of them and will be eager to gain three points this week. The Reds haven’t had the best of records under Klopp when it comes to the first match of a calendar year, having won only two out of five so far. Hence, they will be looking forward to have a winning start to 2021 and end their little winless streak.

Victory for the reigning champions will see them at the top of the table while a defeat will mark Southampton’s first Premier League win over the Reds since 2016. It would also see the Saints go up to seventh in the table but level on points with Tottenham, Manchester City and Everton.

Liverpool seems the favorites to take all three points but given how Southampton have been doing, they definitely shouldn’t be written off.

Now, let’s take a look at the XI that Klopp could possibly field against them on Tuesday and don’t hesitate to leave your views regarding it in the comments section.

Liverpool, Alisson Becker (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) /

Goalkeeper – Alisson

The Brazilian goalkeeper will undoubtedly start between the sticks on Tuesday and will be eager to start 2021 strongly. Alisson made a few really good saves for Liverpool in their last two matches against Newcastle and West Brom and he’ll be looking to produce a solid display against Southampton.

The 28-year-old has kept two clean sheets against the Saints but none of them have come at Saint Mary’s Stadium. So, tomorrow could be a pretty good occasion to keep his first against them in their own backyard.

Alisson has only four clean sheets to his name this season so far which is half as many as Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez who is currently leading the race for the Golden Glove. Hence, he’ll be eager to go as many matches without conceding as possible, starting this week.

With Joel Matip out, Alisson will have to shoulder a lot more responsibility than expected and he will be needed to thwart the scoring attempts of Ings and the other Southampton attackers.

Whenever he has been in goal, the Brazilian has impressed more often than not so we fans can just hope that he does the same on Tuesday as it will be needed, given that Liverpool don’t have anything close to an unassailable lead in the Premier League this season so far.