Liverpool 3-0 Southampton - 6 wins out of 6 for The Reds!
Last season a huge reason for the gap between Liverpool who finished 4th and the champions Manchester City was down to Liverpool dropping so many points in games following on from a midweek fixture in Europe. Southampton's visit to Anfield on Saturday was the first opportunity to see how Liverpool would cope with the challenge this season after they'd went up against the might of PSG on Tuesday in the thrilling 3-2 victory.
Jurgen Klopp made 3 changes to his team from the 11 who started against PSG, unsurprisingly the match-winning Roberto Firmino was brought back in ahead of Sturridge who'd covered him following an eye injury. There were a couple of surprises though as Xherdan Shaqiri was brought in for his first start for Liverpool taking James Milner's place in midfield while in defence Joel Matip came in ahead of Joe Gomez who had formed a pretty solid partnership at the back. As well as the personnel changes, Klopp also switched the way Liverpool set up around too. Mo Salah played in the central forward role rather than Firmino who instead moved out wide to the left. Wijnaldum and Henderson played as 2 deep sitting central midfielders while Mane took up his place on the right wing and Shaqiri centrally just behind Salah.
It was an unexpected move from the German but one that seemed to pay off rather quickly as it didn't take long for Liverpool to take the lead. Admittedly it was a goal gained more through luck than any tactical as Shaqiri struck a shot from the left. It took 2 deflections zig-zagging from Long to Hoedt into the goal past a helpless keeper. Liverpool doubled their lead around 10 minutes later when an out-swinging corner delivered from Trent Alexander Arnold was headed in by Joel Matip who took advantage of some loose marking to find space and head the ball into the corner without much challenge. In the last moments of the half, deep into injury time, Liverpool were awarded a freekick about 30 yards out from goal. Xherdan Shaqiri stepped up to take it and beat the keeper but the ball didn't quite dip enough and smashed against the underside of the crossbar. As the keeper had dived and missed it left the ball dropping right on the line of an unguarded goalmouth and the race was on. There was no surprise when the lightning-quick Mo Salah managed to make it to the ball ahead of anyone else to smash it over the line and send Liverpool in 3-0 up at the break.
Xherdan Shaqiri had been heavily involved in 2 of the goals and had played fantastic. However, the 3-0 lead perhaps flattered Liverpool who hadn't had it all their own way and Klopp made the call to substitute James Milner on during the break in place of the Swiss. It was a decision which raised a few eyebrows and left people questioning if Shaqiri was injured. Klopp explained after the match that it was a purely tactical decision, he felt the system he'd went for during the first half was unbalanced and opted to revert back to the more familiar system they'd played with for the rest of the season with 3 midfield players and 3 out and out attacking players. He did say he felt bad for Shaqiri and that he was pleased with the way he'd played individually.
Liverpool certainly looked more solid during the 2nd half and they could have added to their lead when Mo Salah put the ball into the back of the net for the 2nd time it was incorrectly ruled out for offside. There was some worry when Virgil Van Dijk went down and had to be subbed off while holding his ribs, he was replaced by Joe Gomez who came on and filled in for the Dutchman with another decent display alongside Matip for the last 40 minutes. Liverpool have Dejan Lovren close to a return but will hope that the injury to Van Dijk is not too serious. As good as the other 3 central defenders are, he is head and shoulders above and one of the main strengths of this side.
While the 2nd half may not have been too exciting to watch, it was a little bit of a relief to be able to watch Liverpool comfortably see out a victory after a few games of hanging on to narrow leads for dear life. This was a comfortable game in the end for Liverpool as they go top of the league with 18 points from 6 games. The other bonus was that striker Mo Salah seemed much more positive, after a few games of him looking a bit frustrated and missing chances he finally had a smile back on his face. The goal he scored wasn't the hardest he has ever had and he did have the opportunity to back a couple more but it felt like his interplay with Mane and Firmino was much better and reminiscent of the Mo we saw last season.
Up next Liverpool have a double helping of Chelsea. First, they host the Londoners at Anfield on Wednesday 26th in the League Cup. They then travel down to London and take them on in the League. It will be interesting to see how both managers line up their teams for each match but playing the same opposition in close proximity always adds an interesting dynamic.