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Southampton hosts Liverpool on August 17, 2019, at St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton, England.
Southampton
The Southampton Football Club was founded in 1885 and the team is dubbed as the Saints because of its history as a church football team. They were among the founding members of the Premier League in 1992 but would spend the first 10 years struggling to fight off relegation. They were relegated in 2005, ending 27 straight seasons in top flight. After a seven-year absence, they returned to the Premier League and have stayed there ever since. In 2018, they avoided relegation on the final day of the season. And then during the last term, they finished in 16th place under current manager Ralph Hasenhuttl. They enter this matchup with Liverpool as the soccer betting underdogs.
Here are the players for Southampton as of 7/15/19:
Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn, Alex McCarthy, Fraser Forster, Harry Lewis Defenders: Cedric Soares, Yan Valery, Maya Yoshida, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Jack Stephens, Christoph Klarer, Wesley Hoedt, Ryan Bertrand, Jake Vokins Midfielders: Mohamed Elyounoussi, Oriol Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Harrison Reed, James Ward-Prowse, Callum Slattery, Sofiane Boufal, Stuart Armstrong, Josh Sims Forwards: Che Adams, Danny Ings, Shane Long, Michael Obafemi, Moussa Djenepo, Nathan Redmond
Liverpool
Liverpool is one of the most popular football teams in the world and also one of the most successful. The club’s six European Cups are more than any other English team in history. The Reds have also won three UEFA Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, 18 League titles, seven FA Cups, a record 8 League Cups, 15 FA Community Shields, and one Football League Super Cup. Liverpool is managed by Jurgen Klopp, considered one of the best managers in the world. Upon taking over, Klopp led the Reds to runner-up finishes in the Football League Cup and UEFA Europa League. They finished second behind Manchester City during the 2018-19 term with 97 points, a record for a runner-up squad. They have made the Champions League final in two straight seasons and they defeated Tottenham 2-0 to win the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final.
Here is Liverpool’s squad, updated as of July 15, 2019:
1 GKAlisson Becker, 2 DF Nathaniel Clyne, 3 MF Fabinho, 4 DF Virgil van Dijk (third-captain), 5 MF Georginio Wijnaldum (fourth-captain), 6 DF Dejan Lovren, 7 MF James Milner (vice-captain), 8 MF Naby Keïta, 9 FW Roberto Firmino, 10 FW Sadio Mané, 11 FW Mohamed Salah, 12 DFJoe Gomez, 14 MFJordan Henderson (captain), 15 MF Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 20 MF Adam Lallana, 22 GK Simon Mignolet, 23 MF Xherdan Shaqiri, 24 FW Rhian Brewster, 26 DF Andrew Robertson, 27 FW Divock Origi, 32 DF Joel Matip, 40 MF Ryan Kent, 47 DF Nathaniel Phillips, 48 MF Curtis Jones, 53 MF Ovie Ejaria, 58 MF Ben Woodburn, 59 MF Harry Wilson, 62 GK Caoimhin Kelleher, 66 DF Trent Alexander-Arnold, 68 MF Pedro Chirivella, 72 DF Sepp van den Berg, FW Taiwo Awoniyi
Who Wins?
It seems like eons ago when Southampton finished 6th in the Premier League. But looking back, that was only three years ago. Since then, the Saints have been in survival mode, trying to fend off relegation, year after year. And yes, don’t forget that they lost Virgil Van Dijk in a record transfer. Now this team doesn’t have a true star in its roster but Ralph Hassenhuttl is determined to let them finish in the upper half of the table.
Captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is the main man in their midfield machine. In the summer, they purchased Danny Ings who scored seven goals for the Saints during the last term while on loan from Liverpool. Che Adams is having a terrific preseason so far and if the Saints trust Hassenhuttl’s method, success could be theirs.
Liverpool’s pre-season preparations haven’t gone well with a number of their key players still not around. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Alisson Becker have been given extra time off due to their international commitments. However, Jurgen Klopp isn’t worried but says they need to start getting things together next week. Cutting on their defensive errors and integrating Salah and company back to the team will be the key for Liverpool. Given there’s still plenty of time between now and August 17th, I have no doubt they will be able to fix their issues. This is a team which finished the Premier League season 2nd with 97 points. That total could’ve won the title in some other season but not the previous one. I’m picking Liverpool to beat Southampton on 8/17/19. Prediction: Liverpool
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