Tough test awaits Liverpool at St. Mary's

Mamadou Sakho. No pressure...

Brendan Rodgers and his Champions League hopefuls travel to Southampton this evening for a tricky fixture against Southampton. The form guide would suggest Liverpool should come away with all three points as Rodgers' resilient Reds have remained unbeaten in their last six matches, taking 14 points and scoring 19 goals in the process.

Maruicio Pochettino's side have struggled lately and inconsistency reigns supreme. The Saints have won just two of their last six and scoring 11 in doing so. The interesting stat is that Southampton remain a hard team to beat at their place having not lost at home in that time, or indeed since losing to Chelsea on New Year's Day which is no embarrassment. 

The key for Liverpool is going to be in defence and seeing as the back line is nothing short of ropey right now, I can only see them struggling. Mamadou Sakho is back in training and I suspect Rodgers may prefer him to start ahead of Daniel Agger who was substituted against Swansea. Personally I think Agger and Sakho would be the better option. Word is that the departure of Agger in the summer has not been played down by the boss and if that happens, I'd like to see Martin Skrtel go with him. I'm not convinced by Sakho either because for all his 98% pass completion rate, or whatever it is, his positioning and first touch remains a concern. This match is waiting for Sakho to make his presence felt and cement his place in the side. We'll see. 

Lucas isn't quite ready yet so the midfield should remain as is. Southampton carry a real attacking threat in Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana so the Reds will need to be at their best and alert defensively. Call me pessimistic but I don't see it. Glen Johnson is not the force he was, Kolo Touré is... Well... Kolo Touré and Skrtel needs to buck his ideas up! The attack should remain unchanged on current form. Given the fact that Liverpool have had the full week to prepare, I feel they should be fresh and ready for this challenge. 

Overall confidence in the Reds' dressing room should be high and I hope this translates into a performance to match. The team cannot rely on just out-scoring the opposition. At a venue where the team hasn't won in four of their last five league visits, this would be a daft approach. That said, the defence gives them little choice to do otherwise. A good win for Rodgers' men today would make them firm favorites for a Champions League place and put them in a good frame of mind for their visit to Old Trafford next Sunday week. Let's hope we see some more robotics from Daniel Sturridge this evening. 

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