Life after Russell Martin will begin for Southampton when they welcome Liverpool to St Mary's in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
Martin was sacked after a chastening 5-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, with Simon Rusk taking interim charge for the time being.
Match preview
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In what was a tough fixture list for Southampton during December, the manner of their defeats, especially at home to Chelsea and Spurs, was ultimately Martin's undoing.
Going 3-0 down inside 14 minutes on Sunday night, and shipping five before the interval saw a mass exodus from St Mary's, with many home supporters calling for the manager to go, and later that evening, their wish was granted.
The Spurs defeat leaves Southampton cut adrift at the bottom, nine points from safety, following a 13th defeat in 16 Premier League games this season.
Form in the cup was the only positive under Martin this season, scoring nine goals across wins against Cardiff City, Everton (on penalties) and Stoke City.
That was quite the improvement on last season's performance in the EFL Cup, when the Saints were knocked out in the first round by Gillingham, so they will now seek a second semi-final appearance in three seasons.
Southampton were finalists as recently as 2017, beating upcoming opponents Liverpool across a two-legged semi-final, exacting revenge for a 6-1 defeat at home to the Reds in the quarters the season previous.
This will be a huge uphill task for the hosts though, facing the current holders, 10-time winners and Premier League leaders.
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New manager Arne Slot will be looking to replicate Jurgen Klopp, who has led Liverpool to two of the last three EFL Cups, and the Dutchman has breezed through the competition so far despite facing top-flight opposition.
Both West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion were seen off despite Slot rotating heavily, making them the favourites for the competition.
Liverpool won here at St Mary's as recently as last month, edging a five-goal thriller that saw them go behind early in the second half, but they are now on two-game winless streak domestically, something of a barren spell for Slot given his remarkable start.
After going down to 10 men early on at home to Fulham at the weekend following Andy Robertson's dismissal, Liverpool were still able to fight back for a 2-2 draw, thanks to Diogo Jota's late leveller at Anfield
That came off the back of the postponement of the Merseyside derby, a few days after Liverpool were denied a win late on at Newcastle United, and those successive draws have allowed Chelsea to close the gap to two points.
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Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale revealed over the weekend that he is in contention to return to the fold this week, bringing more stability to that position, with Joe Lumley and Alex McCarthy failing to convince during their spells between the sticks.
Jack Stephens will serve the final game of his three-match ban after being sent off against Chelsea, but fellow defender Jan Bednarek did return at the weekend from the knee injury he picked up on international duty with Poland.
Martin picked an almost full-strength side in beating Stoke in the last round, and even though Premier League safety will now take complete priority, Rusk may still choose a strong side in the hope of lifting morale.
Liverpool will be without Robertson following his red card at the weekend, but they can welcome back Alexis Mac Allister, who missed both Fulham and Girona matches with suspensions across two competitions.
Jota made a goalscoring return to the side at the weekend, and Slot may use this fixture as a means of building up his fitness further ahead of a hectic schedule around the new year.
Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have both enjoyed rests in this competition so far, and Alisson may also make way for Caoimhin Kelleher, despite only coming back from a two-month layoff last week.
Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas all remain sidelined for the Reds, so Slot's ability to rotate in defence is severely restricted, meaning Van Dijk will most likely start along with Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah in the back four.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Sugawara, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Manning; Aribo, Ugochukwu, Mateus Fernandes; Dibling, Onuachu, Armstrong
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Gomez; Mac Allister, Endo, Jones; Elliott, Jota, Nunez
We say: Southampton 1-4 Liverpool
The hosts will hope for a bounce following the dismissal of Martin, but they could not have asked for a more difficult opponent, and even though Slot may rotate again, Liverpool should have more than enough to seal a comfortable win.
Goals should be on the menu too, with the five scored in the league meeting last month taking the tally in this fixture to 48 in the 14 head-to-heads at St Mary's since Southampton's promotion in 2012.
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Andrew Delaney
