Liverpool's first week of the 2019/20 season has gone perfectly, although Jurgen Klopp would have certainly preferred not to have played 120 minutes in Istanbul in midweek.
The Reds ended a long evening with silverware though, beating Chelsea on penalties after an entertaining 2-2 draw in the UEFA Super Cup, building upon the 4-1 victory against Norwich City last Friday.
Klopp's side return to domestic action this weekend with a trip to the South Coast to play Southampton, who were demolished by Burnley at Turf Moor on the opening weekend.
Liverpool are therefore unsurprising favourites for the clash and a trio of respected pundits have given their predictions for the game, although there is one who sees the Reds slipping up.
Michael Owen - Liverpool win ( BetVictor )
Liverpool will have to do without keeper Alisson for the trip to St Mary’s, but I was disappointed with the Saints at Turf Moor at the weekend and expect the Reds to take all three points.
Former Southampton forward Sadio Mane is likely to start against his former club having come off the bench against Norwich in Liverpool’s opening day 4-1 success, although I think Roberto Firmino might be the striker to follow on Sunday.
Mark Lawrenson - 2-0 Liverpool ( BBC )
Liverpool do not have much of a turnaround between Wednesday's Super Cup in Istanbul and Saturday's trip to St Mary's. I still think the Reds will win on the south coast though.
I did not expect Southampton to win at Burnley last weekend but I was amazed by how ordinary they looked. Whether Saints just had a bad day - like Watford did against Brighton - I don't know.
That is not something that seems to happen to Liverpool very often any more and, even if they do, they still seem to be able to nick a win, or a draw at the very least.
Jurgen Klopp's side were criticised for their second-half performance against Norwich, but they were 4-0 up at the break in their first game of the season. No wonder they switched off a bit.
Charlie Nicholas - 2-2 Draw ( Sky Sports )
I am not convinced by Liverpool this season. Are they going to be good enough for second? Yes they are. Liverpool cannot and will not be as good defensively - Alisson is out already, too. Southampton will be looking at different things and how to exploit this Liverpool team.
Virgil van Dijk still makes mistakes and is an elegant, beautiful footballer to watch, but he is expected to win headers and play how he does. I think Southampton, after the rotten result, will be at it here.
