Liverpool's away form threatens their title defense after another loss at Southampton

Liverpool's away form threatens their Premier League title defense after another loss at Southampton

 

Not this time! Fraiser Forster stood firm as Liverpool tries to get back in the game on Monday at St. Mary's Stadium. Southampton won 1-0. (Photo credit: Premierleague.com)

With a match in hand, Manchester United now have the advantage at the top in the premier league after Liverpool failed to win away at Southampton on Monday night.

 

It’s been long coming, maybe they went to the extreme last season, maybe their nerves are week and their bones are tired, but whatever it is, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool now have to fix up as they have lost the fear factor and the clinical instinct that landed them their first title in 30 odd years.

 

When the team sheet hit the internet an hour before kickoff at St Mary’s Stadium, fans and neutrals were shell shocked as Jurgen Klopp named Jordan Henderson as a partner to Fabinho at Center Back, to be honest, when you’re winning everything you do comes off as a genius move but this one would leave bitter memories for a long time.

 

Ralph Hassenhuetl returned to the Southampton dugout after missing their last game due to Covid complications and would be facing a manager and friend he has never bested, it was an emotional game for him and he also had to ring changes, goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was ruled out due to illness.

Fraizer Forster made his season debut and was only needed once in the entirety of the game with Liverpool lacking the cutting edge they’re usually known for.

 

It didn’t take long before the night went south for the visitors, a delightful set-piece, flown in by the now-famous James Ward Prowse was well converted by Danny Ings converted, the former Liverpool forward brought to life the famous joke “signings not Sign Ings”

 

It was all Southampton from there on and Ings could have doubled their advantage but Alisson was up to it and you’ll have to dig till the tail end of the half for any type of Liverpool dominance.

 

Liverpool had their fair share of possession in the second half and were hoping a penalty call would help them out with Mohammed Salah looking a shadow of his usual assured self, leaving Klopp frustrated and embittered.

 

"They [Southampton] put a lot of work in. Our decision-making was just not good, that is how it is when you don't have momentum. We should have had much more chances," he said.

 

"The best situations we had were with Sadio having the ball at his feet," Klopp told Sky Sports. "For anyone to say he's a diver is the biggest joke ... He had two situations where other teams would get a penalty."

 

"The handball, I don't know who will explain that to me. In these situations we were unfortunate ... I hear Manchester United had more penalties in two years than I had in five-and-a-half years. I have no idea if that's my fault, or how that can happen.

"But it's no excuse for the performance. We cannot change it, we have to respect the decisions. We can change our performance. That's our focus now."

The win jumped Southampton into sixth place with 29 points from 17 matches -- level on points with Jose Mourinho’s Spurs, Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton and Pep Guardiola’s City who all have at least one game in hand.

 

After an FA Cup third-round match against Aston Villa on Friday, Liverpool's next match in the Premier League will be at home against Man United on Jan. 17.