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• Gravenberch ready to show off Liverpool form ‘to the world’, says Gakpo

  Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo expressed his pride in seeing compatriot Ryan Gravenberch show off his qualities ‘to the whole world’ after a fine start to the Premier League season.

  Though the Netherlands pair did not become teammates at Liverpool until late summer of 2023, Gakpo knew well Gravenberch’s talents from their respective Eredivisie spells with PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.

  Now in his second season at Anfield, Gravenberch has drawn widespread plaudits for his form in a new deeper-lying midfield role under new head coach Arne Slot, having largely been used as a substitute under Jurgen Klopp.

  Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's big-five leagues to both make 30+ tackles (30) and 30+ interceptions (33) in all competitions this season, and Gakpo insisted that his Netherlands team-mate can continue to go from strength to strength, starting against Southampton this Sunday.

  “We [the Dutchmen at Liverpool] knew Ryan already from the Eredivisie when he played at Ajax, and I think everybody knew already that he is this good,” Gakpo recently told Men in Blazers.

  “After that, he made a move to Bayern Munich, and maybe he didn’t play that much over there, but still everybody in Holland knew how good he could be when he was playing.

  “And I think maybe the manager [Slot] also knew this. 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, grabbed his chance as well and turned out to be a good match. He is playing outstandingly for us this season.

  “I’m very happy that we can see Ryan, as we Dutchmen already knew, but now he can show it to the whole world. I’m very proud of him.”

  Southampton, meanwhile, welcome the Reds to St. Mary’s on the back of 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%). Just 30.1% of Southampton’s shots have been on target this term (34/113), a league-low ratio.

  However, the Southampton head coach is relishing the opportunity of facing Liverpool, with his players performing well against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City already this term.

  "I'm really excited about Sunday. We're playing the best team in the country at the moment, on their current form and what they have been doing with their manager, built on an incredible foundation from the previous manager, so I'm really looking forward to it,” Martin said.

  "I think we showed the guys the Premier League table last season and how much it changed by the end and by the end of December. But it's honestly such an exciting month.

  "People talk about the difficulty of the game and every competition we face in the next four or five games, but it's what we all worked so hard for. We should be excited about the challenge.  

  “I think teams have shown in the last few weeks that you can pick up big results against big teams, good opposition, and we are going to have to. Our level of performance against teams at the top end of the table has been good on the whole."

  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 performers in a lacklustre start to the campaign.

  In the Saints’ 2-0 defeat to Wolves last time out, the Portuguese contributed a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.22 from his three shots, while only Yukinari Sugawara (10) and Flynn Downes (12) have created more chances in the top-flight than Fernandes (eight) this season.

  Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

  Salah has both scored and assisted in the same match 35 times in the Premier League (including four already this term), just one shy of Wayne Rooney’s record of 36 games with both a goal and an assist in the competition. The Egyptian has been directly involved in 11 goals (seven goals, four assists) in 11 Premier League appearances against Southampton.

  He has also been directly involved in 67% of Liverpool’s Premier League goals this season (14/21 – eight goals, six assists), the highest ratio by a player for any side in the division in 2024-25. Indeed, only Matt Le Tissier for Southampton in 1993-94 (69% - 34/49) has scored or assisted a higher proportion of a side’s goals in a single season in the competition.

  MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

  Liverpool have won nine of their 11 Premier League games under new head coach Slot (D1 L1). A win over Southampton will see the Dutchman become the joint-fastest manager to reach 10 wins from the start of a Premier League career (12 games), alongside Guus Hiddink in May 2009 and Carlo Ancelotti in November 2009 (both with Chelsea).

  The Reds’ last Premier League game against the Saints was a 4-4 away draw in May 2023 – they conceded as many goals in that game as they had in their previous six visits to St Mary’s combined.

  Southampton have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (D3 L10), a 1-0 home victory in January 2021.

  This will also be the first Premier League match between the side starting the day bottom of the table and the side starting the day top since April 2023, and Southampton’s 3-3 draw away to Arsenal. The league leaders are unbeaten in 14 such matches (W12 D2) since Wolves won 2-1 against Manchester United in February 2011.

  However, Southampton have only lost one of their last eight Premier League home games against sides starting the day at the summit (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 sides in English top-flight history have reached 10 defeats in 12 or fewer matches from the start of a campaign, with all seven going on to be relegated.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Southampton – 9.7%

  Draw – 12.6%

  Liverpool – 77.7%

• Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills

  Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.

  The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.

  The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.

  Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.

  Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.

  Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.

  "Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.

  "Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.

  "It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much. 

  "He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."

  Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.

  Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.

  "Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'. 

  "That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."

  Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.

  They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).

  "Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences. 

  "You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."

• Palace at 'top of their game' could compete with anyone, says Richards

  Chris Richards says Crystal Palace could compete with anyone when they are at the "top of their game" ahead of their trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League.

  Palace have won just once in the league this season, a 1-0 home victory against Tottenham, and are yet to win on the road in the English top-flight, drawing two and losing three. However, they did beat the Villans 2-1 at Villa Park in the EFL Cup round of 16 at the end of October.

  Richards acknowledged Palace's poor start to the campaign but remains confident in their ability to go toe-to-toe against anyone they face.

  "[Oliver Glasner] told us from the jump that there was no reason we shouldn't be in a higher spot in the table, no reason why we should lose to any team," Richards told the club's in-house media.

  "We could play a team winning the league – even when we played Manchester City, we were winning.

  "City are City, and we lost the game, but it shows that while we were at the top of our game, we could play with any team in the league."

  Meanwhile, after an impressive start to the season, Villa faltered slightly before the international break, going on a five-match winless run in all competitions, and losing the last three.

  Morgan Rogers, who recently signed a new long-term extension with the club, has been a bright spark for Villa this term, netting three goals and registering two assists in the league, and he believes his form is helped by the faith shown in him by Unai Emery.

  "I think any player would say that trust from a manager is the most important thing, and he gave me that from day one," he said.

  "He threw me in the deep end when people were injured last season and gave me a chance to shine and develop and to become the person I am now.

  "He's the perfect person for me. He demands and pushes me every day, and so do the players. I've got players around me that push me every day to improve and get better."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Aston Villa – Emiliano Martinez

  Emiliano Martinez has the fourth-lowest save percentage in the Premier League this season (60.5%, minimum two games).

  Only Alphonse Areola (-3.6) and Jose Sa (-2.9) have conceded more goals than expected according to Opta's expected goals on target (xGoT) model than the current Yashin Trophy holder (-2.2).

  Crystal Palace – Jean-Philippe Mateta

  Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored more Premier League goals (four) and recorded his joint-most assists (two) in the competition against Aston Villa than any other opponent.

  The Frenchman was directly involved in four of the Eagles' five goals in their 5-0 win over the Villans on the final day of last season (three goals, one assist).  

  MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN

  Villa have lost just one of their 12 Premier League home games against Palace (W7 D4), never conceding more than once in any of these 12 meetings (six goals conceded in total).

  The away side has won just three of the 24 Premier League meetings between Villa and Palace (D6 L15), with the Eagles' only victory at Villa Park coming in December 2013 (1-0).

  However, Villa have lost both of their last two Premier League games and could lose three in a row in the competition for just the second time under manager Unai Emery, also doing so in February 2023.  

  Meanwhile, Palace have registered just seven points from their opening 11 league games this season (W1 D4 L6), only picking up fewer points at this stage of a Premier League campaign in 2013-14 (four) and 2017-18 (four).

  A repeat of their last meeting would be a welcome sight for Oliver Glasner though. Following their 5-0 win against Villa on the final day of last season's Premier League, Palace are looking to win consecutive league meetings with the Villans for the first time since a run of three between 2005 and 2014.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Aston Villa – 57.2%

  Draw – 22.3%

  Crystal Palace – 20.5%