Southampton
The team suffered for a long time from the lack of serious financial opportunities. But the paradox is that the real problems in the project started when she got a new, quite rich and definitely generous investor – Dragan Solak. First there was an unexpected exit from the Premier League. Then the new manager, Russell Martin, lifted the Saints from the Championship, but only through the play-offs. What’s more, having apparently strengthened in the summer, the club reliably occupied the very bottom of the Premier League table. He seems to give a fight to everyone, but, as a rule, he concedes a goal more and loses. At the same time, the underdog is good in the League Cup. There he has already dealt with Cardiff, Everton and Stoke City, and only the Toffees went through on penalties, winning against all the others. But the next round will have to pass without a full-fledged mentor: after 0:5 with Tottenham, Martin was quite expectedly shown the door.
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Liverpool
The club has been on edge for most of this calendar year – since Klopp, long a Reds icon, announced he would be stepping down in the summer. And only a confident start for Arne Slot calmed the Merseyside fans, who, of course, kept in mind the stagnation of the historical enemy, Manchester United, after the dismissal of Sir Alex Ferguson. Hardly anyone could expect to meet the winter after losing points a number of times. And there was only one serious misfire, 0:1 with Nottingham Forest at home. The away draws with Arsenal and Newcastle cannot be classified as failures, even with the magpies leading to 3:3, Kelleher’s clear mistake in the end. Then we managed to win, but 1:0, against Girona, did not impress. The decline of the leader’s form was also confirmed by Fulham, ending in a draw – however, there the favorite played in the minority after the early withdrawal of Robertson.
Statistics of personal meetings
The Saints are a convenient opponent for the Reds. Suffice it to say that the autumn 3:2 was the sixth victory in the last 7 matches – only once during this stretch was a draw.
Forecast
Bookmakers do not believe that anything will help the hosts now. They don’t even need this tournament, they need to focus on the Premier League. We bet on guests with a handicap of -1.5 goals (coefficient – 1.95).
December 18, 2024 –
22:00
Liverpool
Source: sport.ua