Liverpool and Southampton punching above their weight

The Barclays Premier League threw up two very interesting fixtures on Saturday. Liverpool travelled Goodison Park to take on Everton in the first Merseyside derby of the season, while third placed Southampton travelled to London to take on table toppers Arsenal. The Merseyside derby ended up in an entertaining 3-3 draw. It had all the elements that one expects from a derby match- aggression, passion, ferocious crowd support for the home team, and brilliant football were all on display. On the other hand, Arsenal steamrolled Southampton into submission at the Emirates stadium and thus stretched their lead to four points at the top of the table.

While watching both matches, it was apparent that both Southampton and Liverpool are struggling to meet the expectations of their fans. One gets the feeling that, come April of next year, both Liverpool and Southampton would end up in the middle of the EPL table.

It has been apparent so far that Liverpool have struggled against the top teams in the division. They’ve lost to Arsenal and Southampton, have drawn against an ever improving Newcastle side and have won a few games by the narrowest of margins.

The only top side that they have managed to defeat is Manchester United and that too under fortunate circumstances. The team seems to buckle under pressure and offers no confidence of getting back into the game once they fall behind. Liverpool lack depth in their squad. They do not have adequate enough replacements for Lucas Leiva and Steven Gerrard. The defence looks shaky against teams with pace on the flanks.

Simon Mignolet has been simply brilliant for Liverpool, but even he cannot do anything if his team’s’ defence is penetrated time and time again as was the case against Everton, where Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel struggled to stop Romelu Lukaku.

Liverpool seem to be relying on the collective genius of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge along with Phillipe Coutinho’s vision to win games. The rest of the team has had a minimal impact while going forward. They do not seem to be confident against top teams, often losing the midfield battle and thus putting their defence under more pressure.

Talking about Southampton, it is evident that they have benefitted immensely from their relatively easy fixture list until now.

There is no doubt that they have been playing some very good football and have some very exciting players within their ranks such as Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin, Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw to name a few.

But they suffer from the same problem that Liverpool suffer from- lack of depth in the squad and no quality replacements. Their defence is strong but it is susceptible to slick passing and good team play near their own penalty box.

The game against Arsenal attests to that fact, where they were outplayed in the midfield by Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil and Mikel Arteta, who then made foray after foray into the Saints’ penalty box, only to be stopped by some last ditch tackles and sometimes loose final touches.

Another concerning aspect for Southampton is that they don’t seem to have a plan B. Their tactics were undone by a resolute Arsenal defence and midfield.

Yet instead of changing their tactics around when it was clear it wasn’t working, Southampton continued to employ the same line of attack which was easily dealt with by Arsenal.

Lallana’s impressive form has been a key factor in Southampton’s rise this season.

It is quite evident that both Liverpool and Southampton have had so much success so far due to their easy fixture list. But with big games coming up for both teams (Liverpool face Tottenham and Manchester City in their next six games while Southampton face Chelsea, City and Tottenham), it is imperative that they quickly address their respective problems. Otherwise they could fall behind in the race to claim those coveted Champions League spots.