Liverpool loan watch: Danny Ings is bringing promise to Southampton

Ings is on loan from Liverpool and he’s enjoyed a great start to this year’s campaign with The Saints, scoring three times in five appearances.

Southampton seems to be the one club in the Premier League who have fed Liverpool with several key players, including Virgil Van Dijk and Sadio Mane, who have both became household names at Anfield.

Then there’s Danny Ings, a very talented striker who couldn’t break into the Liverpool starting lineup for several years because of injuries and talented competition above him. The Reds finally decided to loan him out to Southampton, which looks like it’s been a great decision for both Liverpool and Ings.

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Unfortunately the 26-year old was unable to play against his parent club Liverpool on Saturday due to terms in regards to his loan. Southampton lost 3-0 in that match.

Southampton has managed to win just one game out of six so far, losing three and drawing once in that span. But Ings has been an instrumental part of their attack up front and ranks in the top ten of several categories in the Premier League.

His worth to Southampton

Ings currently sits fifth in the Premier League in shots, managing 18 so far this season. He’s doing a great job of creating opportunities for himself as Southampton’s main striker in their 4-4-2 formation. Against Liverpool without him, they changed it up and played a 4-1-4-1, but it was clear they were missing his energy on the attack because they barely created any chances against the unbeaten Reds.

Coming into this season, Ings had a couple minor injuries that he was dealing with but looks close to full health now. You have to also take into account that he’s barely played a full season at this level for several years because of injuries. His last full season was 2014-15 with Burnley, where he netted 11 times in 35 appearances.

Ings also ranks seventh in the league in goals, netting three times as I mentioned above. For a club that’s really struggled to score in Southampton, Ings has made an immediate difference. They may not end up in a great position at the end of the year because obviously, winning matches goes a lot deeper than just scoring, but to have a striker like him who can find the net at any given time definitely helps.

He’s not the most physical, imposing striker, but he does have great speed and a natural sense for goal-scoring. He always seems to be in the right place to score, evident by his goal tally this year so far. As of September 14th, he ranks fourth in the EPL with 12 shots inside the box, another impressive stat line.

Back home

As a young boy who grew up in Southampton, there’s no doubt he is happy to be back where it all began. Southampton shunned him as a 10-year old saying he was too small, which was very hard to take for Ings. 16 years later, he’s back with his hometown team and looking better than ever.

At just 26-years old, the best is yet to come for Danny Ings. If he can stay healthy, I believe he could become one of the better strikers in the Premier League.

As for Liverpool, they should be ecstatic seeing the form that Ings is in with Southampton. If The Reds lose one of their front three for some reason, Ings could always come back to Anfield. The season-long loan will become permanent on July 1st, 2019 though, so the Reds would have to make a move for Ings before that if they had the desire to.

For now, though, he’s making his mark with The Saints and will look to continue his brilliant start to the 2018/19 season.

Southampton was in desperate need of a scorer, and it looks like they have found their man in Danny Ings.