Liverpool and Southampton begin their respective seasons tomorrow with a 1:30 kick-off at Anfield. Early last season Saints came to the famous Liverpool stadium and emerged with an impressive 1-0 win that signaled the ambitions of Mauricio Pochettino's talented young side. In the long run, though, both clubs enjoyed their best season in recent memory, with Liverpool mounting a serious title challenge before finishing 2nd and Southampton managing 8th place in just their second season back in the top flight. Both have had a troubled summer, however, with their success last season breeding unwelcome interest in their star players from bigger clubs. While the lengthy saga of Luis Suarez's up and down summer has resulted in his £75 million move to Barcelona, the Reds have had to restructure with a number of new players coming in. In particular, Brendan Rodgers has looked to last year's Southampton line-up to restock his squad, with £49 million spent on three of the key players in last year's Saints team. The biggest of those transfers, last year's Saints captain Adam Lallana, is injured so is unavailable for selection, but plenty of other new players are likely to feature. Southampton's new manager Ronald Koeman has brought in seven additions to his squad for around £50 million. With this change of both manager and playing staff it is hard to predict how Southampton will perform this season, so this tough opening game may provide some indication of what Saints fans have to look forward to. These five clashes are likely to be where the match is settled.
