Despite having an underwhelming season so far in the Premier League with eight defeats from the first nine matches, Southampton have enjoyed some success in the Carabao Cup. The Saints recently took another thrilling 3-2 win over Championship side Stoke City in the fourth round to advance to the quarter-finals of the Cup competition.
This is a significant progress made by Russell Martin's side as compared to the previous season, where they faced a surprise early exit in the first round itself after facing a 3-1 defeat against Gillingham. In the ongoing season, Southampton have taken wins over Championship sides Cardiff City and Stoke City as well as Premier League team Everton.
Saints draw Liverpool in Carabao Cup quarter-finals
Now, the Saints will again face a Premier League side as they have drawn Arne Slot's Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. This match will be played next month at the St. Mary's Stadium and Southampton will want to continue their impressive run in the Cup competition. However, Liverpool are the second-placed team in the Premier League and are only one point behind league-leaders Manchester City.
Arne Slot's side recently played a 2-2 draw with Arsenal, who are among the Premier League title favourites alongside defending Champions Manchester City. Thus, Liverpool are also aiming to secure the league title this season and thus, could rest some of their first-team starters in the Carabao Cup. This was evident in their recent narrow 3-2 win over Brighton, as they dropped star centre-backs Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate from the starting lineup and conceded twice in the second half despite taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
On top of that, Liverpool will play Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspurs in the Premier League, a few days after facing Southampton in the Carabao Cup and, thus, would want to start their best lineup against Tottenham Hotspurs. Ange Postecoglou's side are one of the best goalscoring teams in the English top flight, hence, Liverpool can again rest a few of their starting defenders against the Saints in order to avoid any injuries to them for the Tottenham Hotspurs match.
Russell Martin's Southampton should take advantage of any such Liverpool's lineup changes and must take inspiration from their heroic 2-0 win over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the similar quarter-finals stage of the Carabao Cup competition two seasons ago.
In that match, Manchester City dropped star forward Erling Haaland, creative playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and first-choice goalkeeper Ederson from their starting lineup and the Saints gave a resilient performance under former manager Nathan Jones in both attack as well as the defence to score two first half goals while keeping a clean-sheet in the match.
Hence, Southampton again have the chance to replicate a similar impressive performance against Liverpool to reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup twice in the previous three seasons. Now, it remains to be seen whether Russell Martin's side can secure another brilliant win in the Carabao Cup over Liverpool next month.