Lallana has been in great form (Picture: AFP)
Lallana has been in great form (Picture: AFP)

Charlie Nicholas has backed Adam Lallana to be the difference maker in Liverpool’s EFL semi-final against Southampton.

The former Arsenal man has been seriously impressed with the midfielder’s form this season, with Lallana scoring seven goals and providing seven assists in 18 Premier League matches so far in 2016/17.

The England international has added a real end product to his game under Jurgen Klopp and Nicholas believes he is the one who will help fire Liverpool to the final of the competition.

He told Sky Sports: ‘I covered the league game when it ended 0-0 and Liverpool should have won three or four nil, so they have no reason to change anything from the league game and expect they’ll get a better outcome.

Lallana joined Liverpool from Southampton – will he come back to haunt them? (Picture: Getty)
Lallana joined Liverpool from Southampton – will he come back to haunt them? (Picture: Getty)

‘Jurgen Klopp seems to be getting twitchy and made too many changes in the FA Cup for me, but I do expect them to win here and, with the form he’s in, I fancy Adam Lallana to come back and haunt Southampton.’

Nicholas also outlined his concerns about Southampton and thinks they’ve gone a bit stale under their new manager.

He added: ‘The question about Southampton is are they going to go for it?

‘I could see them sit in, play on the counter-attack and treat it like an away game.

‘I think they’ve been getting a bit bland under Claude Puel and you do wonder where the goals are going to come from.’

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