Van Dijk knows all the Ings and outs

LONDON • Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is confident he will win his battle against Danny Ings as the in-form Southampton striker returns to Anfield today.

Only Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (17) and Manchester City's Sergio Aguero (16) have scored more Premier League goals than Ings (14) this season.

But van Dijk will not be doing any homework on his former Saints teammate even though he scored against Liverpool in August.

The Dutchman said: "He has been a key man for them and helped turn it around. I'm very happy for him and very happy for the club. I hope they kick on, but Saturday we try to get a result.

"At this stage, you don't need to study strikers any more. Normally you know their strengths and weaknesses. You try to prepare as good as possible but, most of the time, it's to make sure you're 100 per cent ready. The strikers we are facing we have played against many times."

Ings will face Jurgen Klopp's men for the first time since leaving Liverpool in 2018.

The 27-year-old recently told The Daily Mail that the Reds boss wanted him to stay but he had to make the painful decision to leave.

"I just knew I had to go and make a name for myself and be the player I wanted to be," he said.

Southampton, who have taken 16 points from the last 21 available, will not be overawed by a team that can today equal Manchester City's record of 20 consecutive home league wins.

"I think we had a few good journeys with our yellow shorts," Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said yesterday in reference to his side's away form.

"We go there knowing their record and quality. But we don't play against their record. We play against 11 players and we want to show ourselves how far we have come, how competitive we are, at a fantastic ground and a fantastic crowd and against this fantastic team."

Leicester v Chelsea
Ch102 & Ch227, 8.30pm
Liverpool v Southampton
Ch102 & Ch227, 11pm
Man United v Wolves
Ch102 & Ch227, tomorrow, 1.30am
Crystal Palace v Sheffield United
Ch103 & Ch228, 11pm
Watford v Everton
Ch104 & Ch229, 11pm
Newcastle v Norwich
Ch105 & Ch230, 11pm
Bournemouth v Villa
Ch106 & Ch231, 11pm
West Ham v Brighton
Ch107 & Ch232, 11pm

Burnley v Arsenal
Ch102 & Ch227, 10pm
Tottenham v Man City
Ch102 & Ch227, Monday, 12.30am
All on Singtel TV & StarHub

Liverpool have dropped just two points in the league - 1-1 at Manchester United in October.

A 16th consecutive league win could see the Reds go 22 points clear of their closest rivals and defending champions Manchester City on the opening weekend of February should Pep Guardiola's team lose at Tottenham 24 hours later.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE