First meets worst at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, as Premier League leaders Liverpool host basement boys Southampton in a true mismatch on paper.
The Reds return to their title pursuit on the back of a scarcely believable 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, while the Saints' last outing ended in a 4-0 thumping at the hands of Chelsea.
Match preview
Taking the expression smash and grab to an entirely new level, Liverpool were indebted to the awesome Alisson Becker and the Brazilian's self-professed best performance of his life as they somehow left the Parc des Princes with a first-leg advantage on Wednesday night.
After surviving a barrage of relentless Parisien attacks and a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia strike ruled out for a tight offside, the Reds sent the travelling faithful into raptures as Harvey Elliott finished across goal to put Arne Slot's side in a commanding position before next week's second leg.
Still on course for a domestic and continental treble, set to square up to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup final a few days after PSG's visit to Anfield, Liverpool have taken full advantage of Arsenal's domestic attacking woes to establish what will surely prove to be an unassailable 13-point advantage at the Premier League summit.
Not every Liverpool display over the past couple of months may have been of the scintillating variety, but points matter far more than performances at this stage, and the Reds have taken at least one from each of their last 24 matches in the English top flight.
Only once in Premier League history has a team on an unbeaten run of 24 games or more lost it to the team at the bottom of the table - Manchester United's 29-game sequence ended against Wolverhampton Wanderers in February 2011 - but the fact that Slot's side have netted at least twice in 18 straight home matches should lay any fears to rest.
Separated from their hosts by a staggering 58-point chasm in the Premier League rankings, Southampton are on a one-way street back down to the Championship while Liverpool continue on their path to seemingly inevitable top-flight stardom.
Ex-Roma and Torino head coach Ivan Juric has so far been unable to mastermind the great escape required to keep the Saints afloat in the top flight, and for as long as the visitors are on nine points, they risk going down with the lowest Premier League total ever.
Chelsea may have had their own problems of late, but the Blues ran into no problems slaughtering Southampton 4-0 at Stamford Bridge last week, and the Saints' gap to safety now stands at 13 points with just 11 matches left to play.
Despite spending the 2023-24 campaign in the Championship, Southampton have incredibly still managed to lose more Premier League games than all but one team since the start of the 2022-23 season; their 47 top-flight losses in two campaigns is only fewer than Wolverhampton Wanderers' 54 in three.
The Saints at least went down swinging in narrow home defeats to Liverpool in the Premier League and EFL Cup in late 2024, but each of their last six Premier League games at Anfield has ended in defeat, and the Southampton faithful could be forgiven for expecting that streak to stretch to a miserable seven on Saturday.
Team News
Despite making the trip to Paris for the Champions League tussle, Dutch attacker Cody Gakpo could not partake in the first leg due to a recent knock, and his availability for Saturday's visit of Southampton is also clouded in uncertainty.
Slot - banned from the touchline for one more domestic game - will definitely be missing Tyler Morton (shoulder), Joe Gomez (hamstring) and Conor Bradley (hamstring) once more, but the Reds boss will likely consider a few alterations in between two critical contests against PSG.
Match-winner Elliott, Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez are among the contenders to come into the XI, but Mohamed Salah should be retained as the Egypt international looks to score or assist for the 12th Premier League home game running.
On Southampton's side, Juric was forced to withdraw defenders James Bree and Kyle Walker-Peters after both sustained injuries in the loss to Chelsea, but only the former has been ruled out of this one.
Ex-Reds man Adam Lallana (thigh) and Jan Bednarek (fatigue) are also likely to be passed fit alongside Walker-Peters, but Ross Stewart (fitness), Juan Larios (fitness) and Ryan Fraser (calf) are all missing.
Another piece of good news arrives in the shape of Lesley Ugochukwu's return; the Chelsea loanee could not face his parent club last week but will surely now slot straight back into the engine room.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Elliott, Diaz; Nunez
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Sugawara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters; Fernandes, Ugochukwu, Smallbone, Sulemana; Onuachu
We say: Liverpool 5-0 Southampton
What is a mismatch on paper will surely prove to be a mismatch on the field too, as even a rotated Liverpool side should overwhelm their Championship-bound visitors with ease.
The 58-point chasm between the two sides ought to be reflected in the scoreline, and the Reds can then put their feet up for Manchester United vs. Arsenal on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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