Liverpool's Cody Gakpo expressed his pride at seeing compatriot Ryan Gravenberch show his qualities 'to the whole world' after a fine start to the Premier League season.
Although the Dutch duo only became teammates at Liverpool at the end of the summer of 2023, Gakpo knew Gravenberch's talents well from their respective Eredivisie stints at PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.
Now in his second season at Anfield, Gravenberch has been receiving plaudits for his form in a new, deeper midfield role under new head coach Arne Slot, having largely been deployed as a substitute under Jurgen Klopp.
Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's five major leagues to have made both 30+ tackles (30) and 30+ interceptions (33) in all competitions this season, and Gakpo insisted his Dutch teammate can go from strength to strength. , which starts against Southampton on Sunday.
“We [the Dutchmen at Liverpool] Ryan already knew Ryan from the Eredivisie when he played for Ajax, and I think everyone already knew that he is that good,” Gakpo recently told Men in Blazers.
“Then he moved to Bayern Munich, and maybe he didn't play that much there, but everyone in the Netherlands knew how good he could be when he played.
“And I think maybe the manager [Slot] knew this too. At the beginning of the season he put him in a slightly different position, but he gave him the confidence to play there.
“Ryan showed his quality in that position, seized his opportunity and turned out to be a good match. He has been playing excellently for us this season.
“I'm very happy that we can see Ryan, as we Dutch already knew, but now he can show it to the whole world. I am very proud of him.”
30 – Ryan Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's five major leagues to make both 30+ tackles (30) and 30+ interceptions (33) in all competitions this season. Busy. pic.twitter.com/9XyrsEtAmf
— OptaPlay (@OptaPlay) November 21, 2024
Southampton, meanwhile, welcome the Reds to St. Mary's after a 2-0 defeat to Wolves ahead of the international break, leaving them bottom of the table after 11 games of the season.
The Saints are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this season (seven), while only Crystal Palace (5.1%) have a lower shot conversion rate than Russell Martin's side (6.2%). Only 30.1% of Southampton's shots have been on target this season (34/113), a low ratio in the league.
However, the Southampton head coach is jumping at the chance to take on Liverpool, with his players already performing well against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City this season.
“I'm really excited about Sunday. We're playing against the best team in the country at the moment, based on their current form and what they've done with their manager, built on an incredible foundation from the previous manager, so I” Really looking forward to it,” Martin said.
“I think we showed the boys the Premier League table last season and how much it has changed at the end of December and at the end of December, but it's such an exciting month to be honest.
“People talk about the difficulty of the game and any competition we face in the next four or five games, but that's what we've all worked so hard for. We should be excited about the challenge.”
“I think teams have shown in recent weeks that you can achieve big results against big teams and good opposition, and we will have to do that. Our level of performance against teams at the top of the table was generally good.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Southampton – Mateus Fernandes
Fernandes has become a mainstay in the Southampton team, starting the last eight Premier League games in a row, and has been one of Martin's standout players in a lackluster start to the season.
In the Saints' 2-0 defeat to Wolves last time out, the Portuguese contributed a team-high expected goals (xG) ratio of 0.22 from his three shots, while only Yukinari Sugawara (10) and Flynn Downes (12) created more goals . chances in the top flight than Fernandes (eight) this season.
Liverpool-Mohamed Salah
Salah has scored and assisted 35 times in the same match in the Premier League (including four already this season), just one shy of Wayne Rooney's record of 36 games with both a goal and an assist in the competition. The Egyptian was directly involved in eleven goals (seven goals, four assists) in eleven Premier League appearances against Southampton.
He has also been directly involved in 67% of Liverpool's goals in the Premier League this season (14/21 – eight goals, six assists), the highest percentage by any player for any side in the division in 2024-2025. Only Matt Le Tissier for Southampton in 1993-94 (69% – 34/49) has scored or assisted a greater proportion of a side's goals in a single season in the league.
Mo pic.twitter.com/7sNiPZkYEX
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 19, 2024
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
Liverpool have won nine of their eleven Premier League games under new head coach Slot (D1 L1). Victory over Southampton makes the Dutchman the fastest manager to reach ten wins from the start of a Premier League career (twelve games), joining Guus Hiddink in May 2009 and Carlo Ancelotti in November 2009 (both at Chelsea).
The Reds' last Premier League match against the Saints was a 4-4 draw in May 2023. They conceded as many goals in that match as in their previous six visits to St Mary's combined.
Southampton have won just one of their last fourteen Premier League games against Liverpool (D3 L10), a 1-0 home win in January 2021.
This will also be the first Premier League match between the side starting at the bottom of the day and the side starting at the top of the day since April 2023, with Southampton's 3-3 draw against Arsenal. The league leader is unbeaten in 14 such matches (W12 D2) since Wolves won 2-1 against Manchester United in February 2011.
However, Southampton have lost just one of their last eight Premier League home games against teams from summit day (W2 D5) and are unbeaten in their last four (W2 D2 – including a 1-0 win over Liverpool in January 2021). since a 0-1 defeat to Man City in May 2018.
But Martin's side have lost nine of their 11 Premier League games this season (W1 D1). Only seven teams in English top-flight history have recorded ten defeats in twelve or fewer games from the start of a season, and all seven will be relegated.
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Southampton – 9.7%
Draw – 12.6%
Liverpool – 77.7%
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