Paul Merson has tipped Liverpool to ‘destroy’ Southampton on Sunday when they travel to St. Mary’s for their final Premier League game of the season.
The Saints, who head into the final day already aware that they’ll be plying their trade in the Championship next term, have won just two home league games all season and the ex-Arsenal favourite can’t see that record improving this weekend.
The trip to the south coast will also be Bobby Firmino’s last game for the club and Merson was keen to highlight the importance of the Brazilian to Jurgen Klopp’s side.
“I think Liverpool will destroy Southampton to finish their season on a positive note, I’m going for a 4-0 win for the away side,” he wrote for Sportskeeda (as quoted by Metro). “On a hot summer’s day down at St Mary’s against a relegated team, they will finish on a blast.
“Mohamed Salah loves scoring goals and I expect him to play a big role for Jurgen Klopp’s side as the Reds prepare to bid adieu to the likes of Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“Firmino is an unbelievable player and I would like to think he’s a legend of the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool. Salah and Sadio Mane produced the numbers season after season, but Firmino knitted it all together. I couldn’t talk highly enough of the man – Liverpool wouldn’t have been as good as they were if it wasn’t for him.
“Oxlade-Chamberlain is a great player but he’s just been dogged by injuries over the years. If he gets fit, he could be a great signing for a handful of Premier League clubs. As for Keita, I can count on one hand the number of good games he’s hand for Liverpool. He’s a talented player but I don’t think he ever played 20 games in a row for the Reds, I have no idea why things just never happened for him at Anfield.”
Liverpool defeated Southampton 3-1 in the reverse fixture back in November and although there’s nothing riding on this weekend’s game we’re hoping for a positive result and a strong showing.
Klopp suggested in his press conference earlier today that he may make a number of changes to his starting XI with the likes of Firmino, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arthur Melo and Naby Keita leaving the club this summer and therefore having the chance to represent the club one last time.
Fringe players like Nat Phillips, Joe Gomez and Fabio Carvalho will also be eager to earn some minutes in a campaign that has seen their game time extremely limited to say the least.
Let’s hope that Merson’s score prediction is pretty much spot on as we prepare for a busy summer of transfers ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
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