League Cup Odds: Liverpool in Must-Win vs Southampton
Liverpool (-163) vs Southampton (+600), Draw (+333)
Down 1-0 on aggregate, Liverpool will host Southampton at Anfield Stadium on Wednesday, January 25, in the second leg of their League Cup (a.k.a. EFL Cup) semifinal.
Southampton caught Liverpool on a bad day when they first met at St Mary’s Stadium, and the Saints were unlucky to come away with just a 1-0 win. Nathan Redmond scored the only goal in the 20th minute. He would have scored two more in the first half if it weren’t for some spectacular goalkeeping by Loris Karius. Redmond was denied again in the second half by the crossbar.
The usually high-scoring Reds offered nothing in response. They were missing their top goalscorer, Sadio Mane, who was away on international duties. Their front three of Adam Lallana, Roberto Firmino, and Daniel Sturridge failed to have much impact on the game. Sturridge, who was played as the central striker, was completely shut out of the game by Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.
The Reds had other priorities on their mind at the time, and likely will again in the second leg. They were (and still are) within striking distance of Chelsea in the race for the EPL title, and they had a big game against Manchester United coming up later that week. This time around, they’re preparing for an FA Cup match with Wolverton and a massive EPL match against Chelsea.
While the prestige and prize money that comes with the EFL Cup is relatively inconsequential for a club like Liverpool, it means the world to a club like Southampton.
The Saints are floating around mid-table at 13th place. Apart from the FA Cup, where they will face Arsenal in the fourth round, the EFL Cup is really all they have to look forward to this season.
With just a one goal lead, Southampton will have a tough time at Anfield. Liverpool have the depth to dominate this game on their home turf even if they rest some key starters. The Saints will likely come to regret not having done more at St. Mary’s when they had the chance.
Pick: Liverpool (-163)
Photo credit: “Sturridge v Swansea” by Dean Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
