Liverpool Visit St. Mary's Stadium for the second time in less than a month when they take on Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday 18 December at 8pm UK time.
On their last visit to the venue they achieved a hard-fought 3-2 victory in the first division in November and after the Saints were defeated 5-0 by Tottenham At the weekend, the Reds will be comfortable favorites heading into the game. The only difference between now and then is that Russell Martin has been sacked and Simon Rusk, the interim coach, will oversee his first game with the senior team.
That said, here we review the team's possible eleven for the match.
goalkeeper – Alisson Becker is likely to be rested and Caoimhin Kelleher could get more minutes between the sticks.
Defenders – Liverpool don't have much depth in their defensive department, so not many rotations can happen in the back four. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold He could start as a left and right back. While the Scot is suspended for Liverpool's next Premier League match, the England star's substitute, Conor Bradley, is injured.
In the middle of the backline, Joe Gomez is likely to retain his place and partner Jarell Quansah, who could replace Virgil van Dijk.
Chiesa is likely to start
Midfielders – The midfield could see the marginal players appear. Watauro Endo and Tyler Morton could start at the double pivot, giving Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch a well-deserved rest. In 10th place, Harvey Elliott could start ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai.
Federico Chiesa £10m transfer from Juventus has been marred by injuries but could find a rare place in the starting eleven before Mohamed Salah on the right flank, while Darwin Núñez could replace Cody Gakpo on the left.
Forward – Diogo Jota marked his return from injury with a goal at the weekend against Fulham and after looking decent in a 10-minute cameo against Fulham last time out, he could be tasked with leading the line in the cup match.
This is what Liverpool would look like on paper:
