The fall international breaks have officially come to a close. All players have returned to their clubs, and the Premier League is ready to resume. As we head into this weekend, the Reds are up five points over Manchester City. City play against Spurs in the late game on Saturday, so depending on the outcome, Liverpool’s lead may only be two points when they travel to St. Mary’s Stadium to take on bottom-dwellers Southampton.
A 24-point divide separates the two teams after 11 league games so far this season. However, matches following the international break are always a bit finicky, so a victory is not guaranteed for Arne Slot and his players.
Liverpool are on a four game winning streak in all competitions, and they’ve only lost one match this season, which was the fluke 1-0 loss against Nottingham Forest.
Sunday’s match will have to be played without both goalkeeper Alisson Becker and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who limped off the pitch against Aston Villa. He withdrew from the England team for November, but is still not ready to train with the team. In Caoimhín Kelleher and Conor Bradley there are two capable substitutes in the back who should be up to the task of holding off the Saints. The good news is that Virgil van Dijk, who returned from international duty early, is said to be available.
Southampton, though currently at the bottom, have started seeing some more positive results. They won two of their last three games in all competitions, including a shocking (yet greatly satisfying) 1-0 victory against Everton in the league and a 2-0 defeat of Championship outfit Stoke City in the League Cup.
