Premier League leaders Liverpool open their Carabao Cup campaign in the third round on Tuesday night, as they welcome Championship side Southampton to Anfield, with the Reds looking for a seventh win in a row in all competitions.
At the weekend, Liverpool once again proved their superiority in the Merseyside Derby as they beat Everton 2-1 at Anfield, thanks to first-half goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike.
There are likely to be a number of changes in Liverpool's squad for this one, with Arne Slot already having mentioned after the derby that he will rotate in this game, ahead of the weekend's Premier League away game against Crystal Palace. Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate, Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai are unlikely to be involved at all, while there is likely to be a competitive debut for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili as well.
Southampton, on the other hand, have made a terrible start to their Championship season, having been relegated from last season's Premier League. They have won only one of their opening six matches, and only have six points from those games. That start only got worse at the weekend, as they lost 3-1 away at Hull City. They haven't won in the Championship since beating Wrexham 2-1 on the opening day. In the last round of the Carabao Cup, they beat Norwich City 3-0 at Carrow Road, with Cameron Archer, Ryan Fraser and Kuryu Matsuki scoring the goals.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.
How to watch:
The match will be available on Sky Sports+ in the U.K., Paramount+ in the United States, BeIN Sports in Australia, and FanCode in India. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date: Tuesday, September 23, 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET; 12:30 a.m. IST, Wednesday and 5 a.m. AEST, Wednesday).
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
Referee: Thomas Bramall
VAR: Not in operation
Team news:
Liverpool
Stefan Bajcetic, M: Hamstring, DOUBT
Southampton
Samuel Edozie, F: Knock, DOUBT
Welington, D: Ankle, OUT, est. return late October
Expected Lineups:
Liverpool
GK: Giorgi Mamardashvili
RB: Jeremie Frimpong | CB: Joe Gomez | CB: Giovanni Leoni | LB: Andy Robertson
CM: Curtis Jones | CM: Wataru Endo | CM: Trey Nyoni
RW: Federico Chiesa | CF: Alexander Isak | LW: Rio Ngumoha
Southampton
GK: Gavin Bazunu
RB: Mads Roerslev | CB: Jack Stephens | CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis | LB: Ryan Manning
DM: Shea Charles | DM: Caspar Jander
RW: Tom Fellows | AM: Finn Azaz | LW: Ryan Fraser
CF: Adam Armstrong
Stats:
Liverpool have made the Carabao Cup final in three of the last four seasons, winning two, and losing last season's final to Newcastle United.
Liverpool have met Southampton 122 times in all competitions before, winning 65 of those games.
Liverpool have won the League Cup 10 times before, more than any other team in the competition's history.
Latest news and analysis:
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