Co-Authored with Demetri Smith
Obviously massive Liverpool fans, even we were sweating nervously at the prospect of playing a young and energetic Southampton side at St. Mary’s. The reverse fixture at Anfield saw the young side defeat a dejected Liverpool side 1-0.
Southampton came into the lineup with newly named England players Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert, and Luke Shaw. The Saints are a team that throw everything at the opposing the defenders. They are absolutely relentless, and for an opposing defensive duo like Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel, they seemed poised to be successful. Well, Skrtel and Agger did surrender 3 goals. Among other aspects, Skrtel’s power move, ”the defensive hug”, caught up to him when a penalty was awarded to Swansea last game.
The key to winning the game for the Saints involved targeting all their usual pressure at Liverpool’s center-backs, and obviously neutralizing the creativity and piercing skill of the attacking trio of Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, and Philippe Coutinho. If Liverpool’s attack faltered, with the ever-present defensive issues, it would have been a long night at St. Mary’s.
Whether Southampton can score many goals and really prove a threat to Liverpool will be based on how Skrtel and Agger dealt with their speed and aggression.
The beginning of the match saw the home team carry possession for extended periods until the aforementioned Liverpool offence struck in an opportunistic manner. Luis Suarez broke in and scored. After that, it was the Saints that carried the play. Lallana was very impressive and came close when he hit the post, while Rodriguez came very close, but Simon Mignolet saved brilliantly from him.
Southampton were dangerous with the ball but strongly, albeit surprisingly, Agger and Skrtel defended well. While expectation was that the Saints would score, Suarez stormed the other end and passed the ball off to Raheem Sterling to finish and put Liverpool up 2-0.
Southampton continued to have the majority of possession, but yet again, the ball went to the little Uruguayan, who won a penalty which Steven Gerrard slotted into the top corner. 3-0.
As for the earlier keys to the game that we decided, Southampton’s aggressive style troubled Liverpool but they were unable to finish. On the other hand, Agger and Skrtel were strong on defence and stopped the young Saints stars. However, Southampton’s defence was unable to neutralize the determined Suarez, who wreaked havoc by playing a role in all three Liverpool goals.
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