Liverpool endured a huge contrast of emotions upon two trips to Southampton’s St. Mary’s stadium last season.
Almost a year ago, the Reds recovered from an opening minute concession and romp to a 6-1 victory in the EFL Cup.
In the Premier League, a similar result looked on the cards as goals from Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge sent Liverpool on their way.
A second half collapse, however, saw Southampton fightback and claim all three points with two goals from Sadio Mane, split by another for Graziano Pelle.
The win was seen as vital to the Saints as only eventual champions Leicester City could beat them on the run-in, securing the team European football for this season.
Consistency has been the main problem for Southampton when focusing on this campaign. Several notable Europa League wins have been marred by Premier League defeats such as a 2-1 loss last time out to Hull City.
But looking ahead to Saturday’s clash from a Liverpool perspective, the big story is the aforementioned Mane.
After making the move to Anfield over the summer, six goals from the Senegalese winger and other major contributions mean he has made a bigger mark in Jurgen Klopp’s side than he did when he orchestrated the 3-2 defeat of the Merseysiders at the end of March.
Unsurprisingly, most of the talk ahead of the game will be about his first return to St Mary’s since the £30 million switch and Mane may just be needed to provide the spark to continue Liverpool’s run of form.
Adam Lallana is expected to be out and Klopp is sweating on Coutinho’s fitness after both men picked up knocks on international duty.
The loss of the two playmakers mean Liverpool will likely turn to Mane, Roberto Firmino and Sturridge to fill the void that will be undoubtedly left.
While the Brazilian has six goals to his name this season, Sturridge has yet to fire in the league for the current table-toppers, though three goals on his last two trips suggest if there’s any game he can open his account it may will be this one.
Regardless of any potential absentees, only one defeat in eight home matches in all competitions for Southampton mean the Reds face a stern test as most look on to see if they can become genuine title contenders.
Once again most of the focus will be on the defence in that regard. It was the key to their second half collapse at St. Mary’s last season and with a still developing partnership of Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren ahead of Loris Karius, the team only has one clean sheet in the Premier League so far this term.
But with Liverpool in such free-scoring form, having scored four or more goals on five occasions, and with Mane on the right side compared to eight months ago, there will be the expectation of another three points on Saturday.
