Southampton have the chance to exact revenge on Liverpool following their embarrassing 6-1 defeat to the Reds in the Capital One Cup in December.

Ronald Koeman will welcome Jurgen Klopp's side to St Mary's on Sunday in the hope of claiming their first back-to-back league wins since February, while Liverpool are searching for their fourth league win on the bounce.

Southampton

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The Saints finished seventh last season, two points behind Liverpool, who sealed the final Europa League spot, and currently Southampton sit once again in seventh spot, but are level on points with the Reds, who reside eighth.

Koeman and his players have eight games left to play this season and they have their eyes set on a European place, which is currently five points away from them.

The south coast side had an inconsistent start to the season, but results began to pick up in January and the start of February when they went unbeaten in six league games, recording five wins and one draw, which was a goalless stalemate with Arsenal.

After losing 2-1 to Chelsea on February 27, the Saints had another dip as they suffered a loss at the hands of Bournemouth and had to fight back for a point against relegation battlers Sunderland.

Koeman will be hoping that last weekend's 2-1 victory over in-form Stoke City will mark the beginning of a decent run.

Graziano Pelle scored both of Southampton's goals before the half-hour mark and the team were able to hold off a fightback from the Potters after Marko Arnautovic scored in the 52nd minute.

As well as Liverpool, Southampton face league leaders Leicester City, Everton, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in their run-in, so Koeman will be keen to pick up points as soon as possible.

The club have good form at home given that they have lost just one of their last six league games at St Mary's.

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Liverpool

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Consistency has been a struggle for Liverpool since Klopp took over from Brendan Rodgers in October, but they are now beginning to show signs of improvement in the Premier League.

The Merseyside outfit have won their last three league fixtures in a row, and two of those victories were emphatic - they thumped Aston Villa 6-0 at Villa Park and bounced back from their League Cup final defeat to Manchester City by sealing a 3-0 win over Manuel Pellegrini's side at Anfield earlier this month.

Liverpool's upturn in form is also down to the return of numerous injured players, including Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, while Adam Lallana has impressed in recent games and Roberto Firmino is getting among the goals.

The Brazilian, who moved to Anfield from Hoffenheim in the summer, has scored in his last two league matches, and is the club's leading scorer this season with nine goals in all competitions.

The Reds currently reside eighth in the league table, five points off a Europa League spot and seven behind the final Champions League place, which is currently occupied by Manchester City.

With 10 games left to play for Liverpool, they still have a chance of finishing in the top four, but it is unlikely given that the teams above them, including Manchester United and West Ham United, have more points on the board.

Liverpool have not won four successive league matches since March 2015, but they are in positive form they have won four of their last six top-flight games and have averaged three goals a game.

In addition, the Reds will arrive in the South Coast as Europa League quarter-finalists after they knocked out Manchester United in the last-16 second leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.

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Team News

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Southampton will have Sadio Mane available for the visit of Liverpool after they won their appeal against the midfielder's red card.

The 23-year-old was controversially sent off by referee Lee Mason in the closing stages of the match against Stoke, but the Football Association has opted to rescind the card and suspension.

That means that Koeman has the majority of his squad to select from, with the only recent absentee being Charlie Austin, who will not return until after the international break because of a hamstring injury.

Jose Fonte and Victor Wanyama are available for the match after they both served suspensions for respective red cards.

As for Liverpool, Danny Ings and Joe Gomez are the only long-term injuries on the club's books as defender Martin Skrtel marked his return to action in an Under-21 game last week.

James Milner will not be at St Mary's as he serves a suspension after getting sent off in the game against Crystal Palace, while there are doubts over Alberto Moreno and captain Jordan Henderson.

Moreno is unlikely to feature as he requires a scan on a hamstring injury, while Henderson was withdrawn from the pitch against United because of illness.

Southampton possible starting lineup:
Forster; Martina, Fonte, Van Dijk, Bertrand; Clasie, Davis, Tadic, Romeu; Pelle, Long

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Sakho, Flanagan; Can, Henderson; Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino; Sturridge

Head To Head

Southampton will be determined to respond to their last outing against Liverpool as they were hammered 6-1 in the League Cup on their own turf.

Mane opened the scoring for the Saints, but Liverpool ended up the victors as Sturridge scored twice, Divock Origi nabbed a hat-trick and Jordon Ibe finished the game off.

In the league earlier this season, the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at Anfield after Mane found an equaliser to Christian Benteke's goal in the 86th minute.

The last time that these two sides met at St Mary's, Liverpool sealed a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Coutinho and Raheem Sterling.

In fact, Liverpool have not lost to Southampton in any of their last five meetings in all competitions.

We say: Southampton 1-2 Liverpool

Liverpool may have run out 6-1 winners at St Mary's in December, but that scoreline is unlikely to materialise once again this weekend. Southampton will be determined to get them back for the punishing defeat, but Liverpool are on a decent run of form in the Premier League and will feel with the attacking presence of Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino and Sturridge that they can leave the south coast with all three points.

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