GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Liverpool (Nunez 24)

22 mins: The Saints are slowly making their way into this game. The hosts with a little more possession in the middle of the park.

20 minutes: Fernandes lets Dibling slide into the void via the right inside channel. The Saints starlet enters the box, opens his body and… hurls a weak shot straight at Kelleher, who will be pleased with the handling exercise in these wild conditions. A good chance for the hosts.

19 mins: Nyoni grabs the ball in midfield and sends Nunez away through the left inside channel. He enters the penalty area and tries to shoot, but is blocked by an aquaplaning Bednarek. Brilliantly timed slide tackle.

17 mins: Another McCarthy hoof. More cheers all around. But Liverpool immediately regains possession of the ball. Russell Martin’s argument, right there. On the other hand, the Saints were down 3-0 at this point last weekend, so there are two teams.

15 minutes: Nunez looks on the edge of the Saints D for the top right corner of the goal. He finds the top right corner of the stand. Liverpool want a free kick, Mac Allister is prevented from running into the penalty area by Wood’s block. But they don’t get one.

14 mins: Gakpo sneaks up from the left and looks for Mac Allister, in space just inside the penalty area. One pinpoint cross and the saints are in trouble. The cross is not precise. It comes down to a goal kick. The Saints go up the other end where Archer and Fernandes interfere on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. Quansah deals with the danger.

12 minutes: Liverpool’s strikers push McCarthy. The goalkeeper defends the ball, safety comes first. Many greetings from the home support. That’s not entirely ironic, I’m sure.

11 mins: Mac Allister hits the corner over everyone’s heads. So each is a dark set piece.

10 minutes: Gakpo breaks through on the left side and wins the first corner of the evening against Bree. Mac Allister trots over to get it.

8 minutes: Harwood-Bellis hits a nice long pass down the inside right channel for Bree to chase down. Bree is free of the Liverpool backline, but he’s gone a fraction too soon and the offside flag is soon displayed. It was close but there is no VAR so the officials won’t play as fast and loose as they normally do in the Premier League.

7 minutes: Liverpool dominate early possession. Some relief for Southampton as Alexander-Arnold exploits a long crossfield pass for a throw.

5 minutes: The rain is now pouring down. At least a good evening for clever passes. Nyoni circles a cross inwards from the left, but Harwood-Bellis heads the ball clear.

3 minutes: Nyoni gets a few touches of the ball as he bravely tries to get something going on the left side. Last but not least, it was a thrill for the young man to make his first start in the senior national team.

1 minute: A long ball hit the left wing. Quansah throws Archer to the ground near the corner flag. A very early chance for Southampton to test the makeshift Liverpool defense… but Manning inexplicably lets the free-kick fly over everyone’s heads and it’s an easy task for the visitors to clear the free-kick.

Southampton gets the ball rolling. The rain is almost horizontal. Arne Slot, who is serving a touchline ban tonight after picking up his third yellow card of the season against Fulham, will be happy to be safe and comfortable at the back of the stand.

The teams are out! Southampton in red and white, Liverpool in black with aqua trim. Alex McCarthy and Trent Alexander-Arnold are tonight’s captains. It’s wet and windy down on the Solent Way. We’re leaving in a few minutes.

Liverpool coach Arne Slot speaks to Sky. “The players who have played many, many, many minutes are not even with us… the players who have played many minutes are not going to play the whole game today… the ones who haven’t played that much, it’s an ideal one Moment for.” They play 90… it’s easier for (Tyler Morton and Trey Nyoni) if they can compete with ten other starters because the connection with the team is perfect… now there are a few different players… they know what to do do is, but they will compete against each other strong Southampton team… we knew how difficult it was two or three weeks ago when we played our starters… it’s going to be a challenge but it’s a quarter-final so you expect a challenge.”

Saints interim manager Simon Rusk speaks to Sky Sports. “Obviously a quick turnaround from Sunday… a bit of time to get organized on the pitch… getting to know the guys… we’re confident we’re where we need to be… as best we can… we’re looking forward to it… There were things in the games that were excellent, so we’re trying to maintain that… but of course we want to be hard to beat… make sure our game is solid… if we find the right balance we’ll have enough to cause problems… it’s a great competition… It’s an opportunity for us to turn it into a catalyst for the season close.”

Here’s a reminder of what exactly happened when these two teams Clubs met last month…

… and that’s how it went in the last meeting in the League Cup, in the semi-finals in 2017. With an incredible save from Fraser Forster in the 54th minute against Fraser Forster.

The Saints are making three changes after the Spurs debacle. James Bree, Nathan Wood and Cameron Archer are there, replacing the absent trio of Kyle Walker-Peters, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Adam Armstrong.

Liverpool make eight changes after draw with Fulham. Featuring Caoimhín Kelleher, Wataru Endō, Jarell Quansah, Tyler Morton, Alexis Mac Allister, Harvey Elliott, Darwin Núñez and exciting 17-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni, making his first start for the club. They replace Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah, who all stayed at home.

The teams

preamble