Arne Slot's Liverpool braced for tricky trip to struggling Southampton

Arne Slot’s Liverpool come into this fixture from a huge position of strength, boasting a five-point lead at the top of the table.

They have won seven of their last eight games in all competitions, which included tough challenges against Chelsea, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen.

Southampton on the other hand, have only accrued four points in the league, with their only victory coming against Everton.

While Russell Martin’s side can look forward to a Carabao Cup quarter-final against the Reds in December, they will rue the dropped points against Ipswich and Leicester at St Mary’s.

Slot sweats on injured quintet

Despite returning to training on Tuesday, Alisson has been ruled out of a trip to the south coast, as well as their Champions League clash against Real Madrid.

Since the Brazilian’s hamstring injury early last month, Caoimhin Kelleher has reaffirmed his status as the best backup goalkeeper in the league, as well as his potential to be much more.  

Trent Alexander-Arnold is also nursing a hamstring injury, picked up against Aston Villa before the international break, and will instead aim for a return against Real Madrid.

After Slot mentioned that new signing Federico Chiesa’s workload was being carefully managed, the forward will also miss out against Southampton.

Missing out on pre-season and adapting to the physicality of the Premier League has certainly acted as a roadblock for the Italian, but he may be involved on Wednesday.

Harvey Elliott and Diogo Jota remain sidelined with their respective injuries, with December a likely point of return for both players.

Liverpool’s landmark internationals

While many will have perceived Lee Carsley’s final England camp as futile, with Thomas Tuchel taking charge in the New Year, Curtis Jones took advantage of his first senior England call-up.

The debutant got on the end of Morgan Gibbs-White’s pass with a clever backheel flick into the back of the net, to make it 3-0 against Greece in the Nations League.

Ibrahima Konate captained France for the first time, in a group-deciding 3-1 victory against Italy in the Nations League that also confirmed their place in the quarter-finals.

The captaincy is also a reflection of his much-improved form this season for both club and country.

Over in Warsaw, Scotland captain Andy Robertson marked his 80th appearance with a dramatic stoppage-time winner against Poland to secure a relegation play-off spot in the Nations League.

Perhaps it was meant to be, given that Robertson made his Scotland debut in Warsaw over ten years ago.

Shaky Saints hit with double injury blow

Summer signing Aaron Ramsdale is set for a few weeks on the sidelines, following a broken finger at the Molineux against Wolves.

Martin will hope veteran goalkeeper Alex McCarthy can repeat his heroics from last season, when he was forced to stand in for Gavin Bazunu in the closing stages of Southampton’s Championship campaign.

Centre-back Jan Bednarek picked up a knee injury while on international duty for Poland against Portugal in the Nations League.

With both players out of commission for several weeks, the Saints will likely miss their Premier League experience as they look to uproot themselves from the bottom of the table.

Russell Martin’s side, however, will be buoyed by the return of forwards Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ryan Fraser and midfielder Flynn Downes.