Southampton were swept aside by an inspired Liverpool, as the Reds eased their way to a 3-0 victory at Anfield.
Mauricio Pellegrino named two changes to the side that lost to Burnley before the international break. Wesley Hoedt was brought in to replace Maya Yoshida, but more frustratingly, Shane Long was bought in to replace arguably Southampton’s best striker, Manolo Gabbiadini.
Jurgen Klopp made four changes to the side that bullied West Ham in a 4-1 victory at the London Stadium. Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Emre Can and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were replaced by Dejan Lovren, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson.
Liverpool hadn’t managed to beat Southampton once last season in four attempts, nor did they manage to even put the ball into the back of Saints’ net. But this time, now they had Mohamed Salah and a fit Sadio Mané, the Reds were much more threatening and they made it evident after 30 minutes of play, and Southampton were the cause of their own downfall.
Dusan Tadic was playing with the ball on the edge his own box, and was dispossessed by Roberto Firmino. Ragnar Klavan found Salah, and his shot was perfectly finessed beyond a stretching Fraser Forster who didn’t stand a chance of saving the ball.
Shortly before the break, Liverpool doubled their lead through the Egyptian once again, as he was played through by Coutinho and all Salah had to do was slot the ball past Forster, which Salah executed perfectly.
Southampton did come close on one occasion, as Ryan Bertrand hit a free kick just wide from around 30 yards out.
It was turning into a depressing afternoon for those travelling Saints fans who didn’t have much to cheer about and soon they started filing for the exits, as the third goal went in after 70 minutes. Firmino’s initial effort was saved by Forster and parried right into the path of Firmino’s compatriot Coutinho, who simply had to place the ball into an empty net.
Liverpool were dominating Southampton, not letting the Saints do anything. Southampton had barely any shots, none on target and only 40% possession
There appears to be no game plan with Saints. Pellegrino opts to play Shane Long, a Premier League striker for a team chasing European football, who hasn’t scored in 200 plus days, ahead of the club’s best player Gabbiadini and a natural goal scorer in Charlie Austin. It’s frustrating.
Southampton next face Everton and I must say, I am not optimistic and if Southampton were to lose this game, then the Argentine’s time at the club could be up.
