Opening Weekend Could Be an Awkward Affair for Liverpool and Southampton

With Liverpool set to meet Southampton in the opening weekend of the Premier League, it doesn’t take a genius to see that things could get a touch awkward for both sides when they line-up at Anfield.

So far this summer the Reds have snapped up Saint’s duo Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana leaving new manager Ronald Koeman with two big gaps to fill in the squad. Although the sale of their former captain came along with a healthy windfall of cash, questions about the clubs ambition from within the squad have put a damper on the move with the likes of Dejan Lovren — another target for Liverpool — publicly calling the South Coast side out over their inability to hang on to their top players.

This, of course, only adds to the drama as it was the Croatian defender who scored the only goal in this fixture last season to send Brendan Rodgers side crashing to their first defeat of the campaign. While it’s looking likely that the 25-year old will be swapping sides before opening weekend, should Koeman be able to navigate the cauldron of Anfield in his first competitive fixture in charge of the Saints, Lovren could very well be left with a touch more than egg on his face.

Liverpool don’t exactly have the best Premier League record against Southampton, so there’ll be more than one punter having a flutter on an opening day upset — and with odds like these, can you blame them? Playing in the Champions League and competing for the title is one thing, being made to look like a fool by your old club is a complete other.