Sky Sports football expert Charlie Nicholas has backed Southampton to eliminate Liverpool from the Capital One Cup.

The Reds will travel to St Mary's Stadium for the league cup quarter-final clash on Wednesday evening.

Nicholas has predicted a 3-1 win for the Saints. He writes in his pre-game analysis for Sky Sports: "Well this one really is the pick of the draw.

"Southampton have been a bit disappointing, yes, but they didn't play badly at Manchester City according to Merse (Paul Merson). They missed Graziano Pelle and will have him back against Liverpool. Ronald Koeman will be another one thinking why can't we have a go at winning this? They may not have the depth of some teams but they have a very good side.

"Then we have the resurgence under Jurgen Klopp and everyone going crazy because they're up to sixth in the Premier League. It was another grind at home against Swansea and they'll probably prefer being able to play on the counter-attack again here. Koeman will say 'we're at home, we'll play our game' and I think they'll win this one."