Jump directly to the content
Match highlights
St Mary's stalemate

Southampton 0 Liverpool 0: Watch highlights as Jurgen Klopp’s side miss chance to cement lead at the top of table

Reds missed a string of chances as Premier League's top scorers fail to break deadlock

LIVERPOOL missed a golden opportunity to cement their lead at the top of the table after missing a string of chances against Southampton.

Roberto Firmino spurned Liverpool's best chance of the afternoon when he was put through on goal by Philippe Coutinho only to drag his shot wide when he should have scored.

 Roberto Firmino misses a great chance for Liverpool
4
Roberto Firmino misses a great chance for LiverpoolCredit: Getty Images

Sadio Mane almost came back to haunt his former club when he was bearing down on goal but a wonderful tackle by the excellent Virgil Van Dijk deflected his shot wide.

Despite Liverpool's dominance, the home side nearly found themselves ahead when Nathaniel Clyne just did enough to prevent Charlie Austin from heading home.

STATS, FACTS, GOALS & LOLS

  • Southampton have banked £95million from selling five players to Liverpool in the last three years. That is £10milion more than their entire starting line-up today cost them.
  • Dejan Lovren copped far more stick from the Southampton fans than either Sadio Mane or Nathaniel Clyne, the other former Saints on duty for Liverpool at St.Marys.
  • This has been Liverpool’s best start to a season since the 2008-09 campaign and with no European commitments to drain them this time they are really starting to fancy their title chances
 Philippe Coutinho attempts to break the deadlock
4
Philippe Coutinho attempts to break the deadlockCredit: PA:Press Association
  • It is still early days but Joel Matip looks like he could be the man to finally end Liverpool’s defensive problems. The Cameroonian centre-half is so composed on the ball and inspires confidence from his team-mates.
  • Neither team were taking any prisoners as the tackles flew in on a pitch made even slicker by a torrential first-half downpour but ref Mark Clattenburg did his best to let the play flow.
  • Saints’ £16million record signing Sofiane Boufal is still struggling to make an impact following a stop-start first few months in England.  The Moroccan winger looked knackered after half an hour.
 Dejan Lovren was back at his old stomping ground
4
Dejan Lovren was back at his old stomping groundCredit: Reuters
  • Liverpool negated the threat of Charlie Austin by playing such a high defensive line it meant that every time Saints’ top scorer received the ball he still had 30 yards to run to get off a shot at goal.
  • Southampton were acutely aware of the threat posed by Philippe Coutinho and were all over him like a rash to make the sure the little Brazilian didn’t get any time on the ball.
  • Mane was denied a goal on his first return to the South coast by a save of the season contender from Fraser Forster and a potential tackle of the year by Virgil Van Dijk.
  • Southampton ran themselves into the ground to keep Liverpool at bay and barely crossed the halfway line in the final 45 minutes.

BIG PICTURE

4

 

 

Next five fixtures

Southampton
24 Nov - Sparta Prague (A) - EL
27 Nov - Everton (H) - PL
30 Nov - Arsenal (A) - LC
3 Dec - Palace (A) - PL
8 Dec - Be'er Sheva (H) - EL

Liverpool
26 Nov - Sunderland (H) - PL
29 Nov - Leeds (H) - LC
4 Dec - Bournemouth (A) - PL
11 Dec - West Ham (H) - PL
14 Dec - Middlesbrough (A) - PL

 SOCIAL SAYS

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

SOUTHAMPTON: Forster 7, Cedric 7, Fonte 7, Van Dijk 7, Bertrand 6, Hojbjerg 7 (Reed 78, 5), Romeu 7, Davis 7, Redmond 6, Austin 6 (Rodriguez 75, 6), Boufal 6 (Long 66, 6).

Subs not used: Taylor, Yoshida, Martina, Clasie

Booked: Cedric

LIVERPOOL: Karius 6, Clyne 7, Matip 7, Lovren 7, Milner 7, Wijnaldum 6, Henderson 7, Can 6 (Sturridge 78, 6) Mane 6 (Origi 91, 6) Firmino, Coutinho 6

Subs not used: Mignolet, Klavan, Grujic, Moreno, Lucas

Booked: Coutinho

STAR MAN: Oriol Romeu

WHAT THEY SAID

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "It was intense so first half not bad but not bad is not good enough. Second half we could have won and maybe should have won.

"We used the first half to prepare for the second half and second half was really good. It’s a draw and a clean sheet. We had enough.

"I thought of course it was a penalty. For my point of view it was clear and probably a red card and a penalty."

Saints manager Claude Puel: “I think it was a good performance today. We played against a very good team with good players.

";Of course, we want to have more possession because we like control of the game, but it is difficult and so that was a good point for us.

"We have 15 international players and it is difficult to work without these players during the break. However, what we showed was a good spirit, attitude and discipline. We tried to play good football but it was difficult against this team."

 

Topics