Case played for both Liverpool and Southampton and feels the Saints need to be on the front foot.
Former Liverpool and Southampton star Jimmy Case has said the Saints must find a way of trying to get on the front foot when they host the Reds this weekend, the Daily Echo reports.
Southampton host the league leaders on Saturday who are not only setting the pace at the top, but are the division’s leading goal-scorers after 11 games.
Case is quoted in the Daily Echo, saying: “You can try and play defensively against them but it only takes one goal for the game plan to have to change.
“For Southampton it will be about doing what they do best and getting on the front foot. They will have more of a chance if they play an open game because they have a great defence. [Jose] Fonte and [Virgil] Van Dijk have been excellent and they’ve always had decent full backs.”
Certainly Southampton have the ability to create opportunities, but they need to be more clinical at times, as was illustrated in their last display prior to the international break where they failed to kill off Hull City only for the Tigers to come back from a goal down to win the game.
They also have a central defensive partnership that you could argue is the envy of most in the Premier League. Last season saw three fascinating battles between the two sides, and Southampton will take heart from the fact that in their last meeting they came from two goals down to win 3-2 – even if the architect of that comeback is now lining up for the Reds in the form of Sadio Mane.
It will be fascinating to see how Claude Puel’s side approaches it. After the international break it can take time for sides to find their rhythm, and there are perhaps one or two at Southampton who will feel that Liverpool can be caught cold.
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