Southampton boss Mark Hughes needs to roll out his ‘plan B’ this weekend as the Saints will be without Danny Ings.
Supporters would be forgiven for not realising that Ings is ineligible for the game against Liverpool, with it having been so long since they’d dipped into the loan market, let alone from a fellow Premier League outfit.
However the Saints will indeed be without their star man, who has scored three goals already since his move to the south coast, which will of course become permanent next summer.
Therefore Mark Hughes will need to set up differently, whether this requires him to draft in a different striker or perhaps switch the formation all-together.
Previously the Welshman had partnered Ings with Shane Long, with the latter’s brilliant work ethic and pace helping to compliment the more direct Ings. Sadly however, none of Austin, Gabbiadini or Gallagher offer the same as he does and therefore Southampton’s play-style against the Reds will have to change.
Granted, with the Saints facing Liverpool at Anfield, we were bound to see Mark Hughes switch things up anyway, but against any other side big side Ings would still be the focal point even if the formation was switched to a 4-2-3-1.
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However without the 26-year-old available things are going to be even trickier – Liverpool have won all five of their Premier League matches this season so far and come into the game this weekend off of the back of a confidence-boosting 3-2 win over PSG in the Champions League.
But that doesn’t for a second mean that the Saints shouldn’t attack the Reds this Saturday – Southampton have played their best football this season when they’ve brought plenty of energy and intensity. As a result, sitting back and sitting deep would only invite Liverpool onto them and their passing and link-up play can be devastating.
Jurgen Klopp probably isn’t expecting the Saints to get right up in his player’s faces so this could be the exact way they should set-up – an obvious option to press high would be using Shane Long but his lack of end product limits his effectiveness.
All we know for sure is that this match will allow the Saints to learn to live without Ings – he does at the end of the day have a poor injury record and there’s no telling whether he could miss periods of this season with Southampton. This weekend could be a good learning curve.