It’s been a fantastic start to the year for Southampton. Now in third place in the Premier League table, the southern team are just four points behind Manchester City and 11 points behind high flyers Chelsea.
After what looked set to be a shocking start to the season, Southampton managed to defy their critics as soon as 2015 kicked off – by beating last year’s FA Cup winners Arsenal 2-0 on New Year’s Day.
They then went on to have an amazing run of games throughout January, kicking off with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on 11th January, followed by two consecutive wins against Ipswich Town and Newcastle United.
Having proven that they have what it takes to defeat the biggest names in the Premier League, the next challenge for the Saints is last season’s runners up, Liverpool. Ronald Koeman’s 11 will be hosting the Reds on 22nd February, and local fans are looking forward to showing their support to lead Southampton through to another three points.
The game will be particularly interesting for strikers Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, who have both made comfortable starts for Liverpool after making the move over from Southampton at the beginning of the 2014/15 season.
32-year-old Lambert has scored two goals in his 18 appearances for the Reds, while 26-year-old Lallana has managed to sink an impressive four goals in 15 appearances.
But are the pair any match for Southampton’s Graziano Pellè? The star signed an £8 million three-year contract to Southampton in July 2014 and has certainly proven himself in that time, having quickly earned the accolade of Southampton’s top scorer with eight Premier League goals so far.
By comparison, Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard has only scored one more goal, as has World Cup legend Raheem Sterling. The loss of Luis Suárez is something from which Liverpool fans still reluctantly suffer to this day, showcased by disappointing games such as their 0-0 draw with Bolton during the FA Cup Fourth Round.
