PREVIEW: Southampton vs Liverpool

A fixture which has an abundance of narrative, Southampton are determined to better a Liverpool side who were fortunate to beat Ronald Koeman's men in the season opener, a team which features three former Saints favourites.

While Sir Rickie Lambert is still revered as a hero to Saints fans, both Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren will be foolish to expect anything less than a hostile reception as they return to the South Coast. <!-- ######## START FLOATED VIDEO SNIPPET ######## -->

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Liverpool arrive to Southampton's home in a rich vein of form: they are yet to lose a Premier League game in 2015, having closed the points gap between themselves and Saints to just four points despite a good Christmas period for the Hampshire club.

After sorting out their early-season defensive woes, helped by dropping the out-of-form Lovren, Liverpool have lost only once in their last 17 matches in all competitions. Saints, on the other hand, have recently struggled at home - not having won at St. Mary's since New Year's Day against Arsenal.

Southampton will be missing Toby Alderweireld, who is still recovering from injury, while Ryan Bertrand is out through suspension following on from his red card against Swansea. However, Saints welcome back Morgan Schneiderlin, Shane Long and Matt Targett into starting XI contention.

Liverpool are missing the likes of Steven Gerrard, John Flanagan, Lucas Leiva and Jose Enrique.