Southampton will be hoping it’s lightning strikes twice when they face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup at Anfield.
The Saints pit their wits against the Premier League leaders in the third round on Tuesday night – live on talkSPORT 2.
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It’s been a challenging start to the season for the south coast outfit in their first campaign back in the Championship following top-flight relegation.
New boss Will Still has picked up just six points from as many games – winning once – with his side sitting 19th in the table.
And he will be hoping a shock win in Merseyside could be the springboard to a successful season in Southampton’s quest to secure an instant return to the Premier League.
It’s the second season in a row that the two teams will face each other in the competition.
Arne Slot’s side ran out 2-1 victors at St Mary’s last year to seal their place in the semi-finals thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott.
But it is at Anfield where Saints fans hold fond memories of, having been the first ever team to eliminate Liverpool from the League Cup – doing so in November 1960.
And they also recorded a famous League Cup win at the stadium in January 2017.
The two clubs were pitted together in the semi-finals, with the winner to face Manchester United at Wembley.
It was Southampton who had the advantage going into the crucial second leg having won 1-0 at home thanks to Nathan Redmond’s 20th minute winner.
And the visitors then capitalised on Liverpool’s poor form going into the return fixture to advance in the final.
Sandwiched between the two legs, the Reds drew away at United before losing to Swansea at home.
What happened the last time Southampton played in the League Cup at Anfield?
A reaction was expected from Jurgen Klopp’s men, but they couldn’t break through a resilient Saints defence – who were missing now-Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk.
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With time running out, striker Shane Long finished off a devastating counter-attack in the first minute of stoppage time by rifling past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
In doing so, Southampton inflicted an unwanted first on Klopp by beating him in the semi-finals.
It was the first time the legendary German manager had come up short in a last-four tie.
During his time at Borussia Dortmund, Klopp took BVB to three DFB-Pokal finals [winning once], as well as the Champions League final.
He also guided Liverpool to the Europa League final in 2016 and the League Cup, which he managed the same year.
Despite his record coming to an end, Klopp insisted Southampton were deserving winners as he bemoaned his side’s wastefulness in front of goal.
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He said: “They won both games, they deserved it. We did really well.
“We cannot create more chances than we did in the second half – we were dominant. It is difficult because you have to take risks but too many risks plays to their strengths.
“We had seven good chances. You have to score, and we didn’t do, so we lost. I’m fine with the performance, but not the result.”
Southampton also put an end to Liverpool’s incredible 46-year semi-final run.
Prior to their consecutive 1-0 defeats, Liverpool had scored in at least one leg of a semi-final tie since 1971.
Heading into their second leg against Southampton, the last time they had failed to score in either match was against Leeds in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
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Four months after the second leg in 2017, Southampton would again keep Liverpool at bay as they drew 0-0 in Liverpool’s penultimate home match of the season.
Since that match, Liverpool have won each of their last Anfield clashes across all competitions [seven in Premier League, one in FA Cup].
And Liverpool will be hoping a ninth straight home win against Southampton will once again prove to be a good omen in their pursuit of a record-extending 11th League Cup title.
Liverpool have reached the final in each of the last four seasons they beat Southampton in the competition.
Though that has only resulted in one win – against United in Cardiff in 2003 – while they lost at Wembley in 1987 [to Arsenal], 2016 [to Manchester City] and 2025 [to Newcastle].