LIVERPOOL will be looking to rediscover their mojo when they travel to St Mary's to take on Southampton on Monday night.
The Reds remain on top of the Premier League table but Jurgen Klopp's star-studded side appear to be having a bit of a wobble in the defence of their crown.
The Merseysiders were held to a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom last weekend before dropping more points in a scrappy St James' Park stalemate in midweek, on a night where my recommended bet landed.
That double dent has brought the chasing pack back into the title race so the Reds will be desperate to maintain their place at the summit of the standings when they meet Southampton on Monday night.
Southampton themselves have gone off the boil recently and go into this clash in the midst of a four-game winless run, however, it's worth noting that three of those fixtures finished all square.
Last time out Ralph Hasenhuttl's side played out a dour 0-0 draw at home to West Ham, the Saints third Premier League game in succession without scoring.
Outright Betting
Southampton have lost each of their last six matches with Liverpool and the bookies odds suggest that sequence is set to continue after pricing the Saints up at 4/1 with UniBet, while a share of the spoils is an unfancied 7/2 with Bet 365.
Liverpool, despite winning just one of their last six Premier League away matches, are odd-on favourites here at 4/6 with Unibet.
Betting Angles
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will be keen to see his side get back to winning ways at St Mary's and I fancy the Reds to record their first win in three matches on Monday night
However, backing Liverpool to win looks too short to put up, therefore, I'll happily throw in under 4.5 match goals to boost the price up to a much-more enticing 11/10 with Betway.
Taking this approach would have banked profit in seven of Liverpool's nine Premier League victories this season, not to mention each of Southampton's last four top-flight tussles have featured fewer than than three match goals
What's more, unlike the Reds recent opponents, I suspect the Saints won't set out to frustrate Liverpool with a defensive low block, but that could well be their undoing when they come up against the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
That train of thought is going to see me dip into the player props market and take the 10/11 on offer with Bet 365 for Mohamed Salah to have over 1.5 shots on target during the match.
Liverpool's leading marksman is averaging 1.8 shots on target per game this term – the second-highest in the division – and the excellent Egyptian is averaging 3.5 shots per 90 minutes, not to mention Salah tends to be on spot-kick duty.
My final pick is for no card to be shown before the 40th minute, a 5/6 shot with Bet 365.
Andre Marriner is the man in the middle at St Mary's and he is arguably the most lenient referee in the Premier League, the Birmingham-born whistler is averaging 2.44 yellow cards per game this season.
With that in mind, coupled with the fact that both Southampton and Liverpool are two of the cleanest sides in the division when it comes to clocking up cards I'm happy to back the book to remain unopened before the 40th minute.
This English Premier League match between Southampton and Liverpool will be played on Jan 4, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Southampton vs Liverpool prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
