Saints and Reds' battle for the Champions League is just "too close to call"
Sunday 22 February 2015 14:51, UK
In his weekly column, Jamie Carragher looks ahead to the Super Sunday clash between Southampton and Liverpool at St Mary’s.
The former Reds and England defender says the race for the top four, and qualification for next season's Champions League, will go right down to the wire.
Meanwhile, Carra also assesses how well the three players Liverpool brought in from Southampton last summer have performed so far at Anfield, before running his eye over Morgan Schneiderlin’s impact on the south coast.
Looking ahead to the game on Sunday, which of the two teams currently looks best placed to finish in the top four this season?
You look at the transfer fees involved, Liverpool have the bigger and better squad, which will help they cope with all the extra games they have to play in the FA Cup and Europa League.
Southampton will be fresh though between now and the end of the season and have a four-point lead at the moment over Liverpool, so it is a toss-up really between the two sides.
There is very little to choose between the two in fact – I would say Southampton have had the better season so far and they are four points ahead, but Liverpool are on a great run at the moment, although those extra games could become a problem for them between now and the end of the season.
And we will now see if the fewer games that Southampton have than Liverpool between now and the end of the season will ultimately have an effect.
Are Southampton favourites to win this match given they have had the past week free to prepare, while Liverpool have played twice in that time?
I do not think having to play on Thursday will have a massive impact on Liverpool actually – maybe as the competition goes on it will – as they are playing well and Brendan Rodgers will no doubt play a very similar team to that which he used against Besiktas.
Obviously Southampton will have a slight advantage having had the last seven days off to prepare for the game, but where I think it will help them is further on in the season when all these other cup games could end up catching up with Liverpool. So they may just have an edge over Liverpool there.
Do you expect Brendan Rodgers to make many changes for the trip to St Mary’s having played Besiktas on Thursday night?
Normally managers do like to freshen things up after a midweek game, especially on a Thursday. But as I said, Liverpool have been playing well recently and are in such good form that I do not see Brendan making too many changes on Sunday, especially given how important the league and finishing in the top four is to Liverpool this season.
However, he could bring in a couple of players to freshen the team up, although the fact that Brendan put his best team out against Besiktas shows how important he is taking that competition.
Would you start Mario Balotelli in attack with Daniel Sturridge?
No, I would keep him on the substitutes’ bench as that is where he has been making the most impact from in recent weeks, coming off the bench where he is a lot more dangerous and affecting games that way against tiring defences, so I see no reason to change that.
Of course, if Brendan did want to change things, then Balotelli could be one to come in.
If there is a penalty against Southampton and both strikers are on the pitch, who should take it?
Mario should – If Mario is on the pitch at the time, then it looks like he will be taking penalties from now on in [Steven] Gerrard’s absence.
How well have the three players Liverpool bought from Southampton last summer – Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert – performed so far this season?
Lovren has not set the world alight. He came in for a big fee, and he has not quite done yet what he was brought to the club to do. You look at someone like [Mamadou] Sakho – he struggled last season and took time to settle in – and Lovren has actually looked better in recent weeks when coming off the bench late on in games against Crystal Palace and Besiktas.
Lovren was good last season and he is not a bad player, he has just had a difficult time at Liverpool since he joined the club. There have been a lot of eyes on him, which brings its own pressure, as does the price tag, and hopefully we will see the best of him between now and the end of the season. And then going into next season, like we have seen with his defensive partner Sakho, we should start seeing the best of him.
Lambert was brought to Liverpool to be a squad player, he would have known that and that is exactly what he has been this season, but he has found it difficult to get the starts he would have wanted. He almost went in January and his situation is maybe something Liverpool will look at the end of the season in terms of whether it is better that he moves on, or continues in this same role as a squad player at the club.
And Lallana has played very well, but the problem has been that he has been hampered by having a few injuries that keep on slowing down his momentum at crucial times. But is obvious to everyone that he is a very good player, we just need to see a bit more of it and that comes from staying fit.
How impressive has midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin been since arriving at St Mary’s and how important is the Frenchman to the club’s success at present?
He is obviously a very good player and has been for Southampton for the last few years now. A lot of clubs were looking at him last summer, like Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs – with Mauricio Pochettino obviously wanting to bring him to White Hart Lane – and he has been one of the best players at Southampton so far this season and one of the main reasons for their position in the top four.
Watch Southampton v Liverpool live on Super Sunday from 4pm on Sky Sports 1 HD.
