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Liverpool meet Southampton at Anfield in a Fifth Round tie in the 2023-24 FA Cup.
Victory would see Liverpool or Southampton reach the Quarter-Finals for the second time in three seasons.
Team News
Ryan Gravenberch is ruled out for Liverpool after he suffered an ankle injury during the Reds’ Carabao Cup Final triumph over Chelsea.
Darwin Nunez (muscle), Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah (hamstring) and Wataru Endo (ankle) face late fitness tests.
Ben Doak, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota (all knee), Joel Matip (ACL), Curtis Jones (bone), Thiago Alcantara (muscle), Stefan Bajcetic (calf) and Alisson (hamstring) remain absent.
Southampton will be without Ryan Fraser after he suffered a knee injury in their shock Championship defeat to Millwall.
Flynn Downes (knock) is unlikely to feature but David Brooks is cup-tied after he featured for Bournemouth in the Third and Fourth Rounds.
Juan Larios and Ross Stewart (both hamstring) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Liverpool host Southampton at Anfield on Wednesday 28 February at 8pm GMT, live on ITV1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Liverpool are unbeaten in eight of 10 previous FA Cup meetings against Southampton across eight separate ties (W6, D2, L2)
- Southampton are winless in five previous FA Cup visits to Liverpool at Anfield without scoring (L5).
- Liverpool have scored ten goals at home against Southampton without reply.
- Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have scored first in their last four FA Cup matches (W3, L1).
- Sekou Mara has scored three of Southampton’s eight FA Cup goals this season (W2, D1).
Prediction
With injuries piling up amidst a scrappy Carabao Cup Final victory, Liverpool now have to use that performance as motivation to keep their hopes of a domestic cup double alive, yet their end product has to be more clinical than it was at Wembley.
Klopp though has to be delighted with how his youngsters adapted to being throw in at the deep end as substitutes in the final, because they seemed to display more energy and quality than some senior players managed throughout so I do expect them to start here.
Southampton meanwhile have hit a rut with threee defeats in their last four but promotion remains their main priority, so it will be interesting to see what team is put out because at the same time, this is a winnable game for the Saints if go full strength against a weak Liverpool team.
I however wouldn’t be surprised if Liverpool do find a way through this game if only have the players who finished the Carabao Cup Final available, but Southampton really should try and give the Reds a proper battle in front of the celebrating home crowd.
Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Southampton
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