Next Sunday, 22nd of February 2015, a rejuvenated Liverpool will travel south to measure forces with Ronald Koeman’s clockwork Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium for round 26 of the English Premier League. Next Sunday’s clash will certainly be the one of the most exciting of the round since we will be able to see two of the most interesting teams of the EPL so far this season go head-to-head, who will battle for the three points until the final whistle.

Liverpool’s last week match against the Spurs was first of all a very entertaining match. The Reds have secured a 3-2 important win thanks to a goal from the erratic Mario Balotelli. Liverpool had more goal chances, but it is fair to say that it was a very even match. After that huge confidence boost, the Reds snatched another important win, this time at Selhurst Park, where they eliminated Crystal Palace from the FA Cup. The Eagles have, nevertheless, scored first thanks to an early goal from Campbell, but Liverpool managed to bounce back and scored twice in just ten minutes during the second-half. The usual suspect, Daniel Sturridge, netted in the equalizer just three minutes after the break and nine minutes later Adam Lallana sealed the Reds’ win.

Brendan Rodgers is certainly happy with Liverpool’s recent improvements, since he has finally created a solid and consistent team once again after this season’s somewhat slow and unconvincing start. For the upcoming and predictably complicated clash at St. Mary’s Stadium, the Northern Irish manager will not be able to rely on the services of his captain Steven Gerrard, who remains sidelined due to injury.

As for Southampton, the Saints are beyond any doubts the most pleasant surprise of EPL so far this season, especially if we consider the massive departure of players that took place last Summer. Ronald Koeman managed to create a team from scratch and so far he has done so brilliantly, with Southampton vividly battling for a place among the top five of the table.

Last weekend, nevertheless, the Saints failed to get anything better than a draw from their home match against West Ham. Southampton’s recent form at St. Mary’s Stadium has been far from brilliant, since the last time they won at home was on the first day of the new year, when they overcame Arsenal by 2-0. For the upcoming match against Liverpool, the Dutch manager will probably still not be able to rely on the services of Jay Rodriguez and Isgrove, both currently sidelined due to injury.

It is hard to point out any favourites for this particular clash, although, and because they are playing at home, one might consider Southampton slight favourites.

Southampton

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - DWLLW

Liverpool

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

Recent Form - WWDWW

Possible Line-ups

Southampton (4-3-3) - Forster - Clyne - Fonte - Gardos - Bertrand - Reed - Davis - Wanyama - Tadic - Elia - Pelle

Liverpool (3-4-3) – Mignolet - Sahko - Skrtel - Can - Leiva - Henderson - Sterling - Moreno - Coutinho - Sturridge - Lallana

Prediction

Southampton 1 Liverpool 1