What Arne Slot acquired proper and incorrect as Liverpool survive Southampton scare to increase lead

Arne Slot had a chance to increase Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League against Southampton after Manchester City’s loss on Saturday.

The game saw the leagues best defence face the worst attack. A ball rolled out from Alex McCarthy to Mateus Fernandes ended up getting swallowed up by Liverpool players. A poor clearance from a Flynn Downes handed the ball straight to Dominik Szoboszlai who tucked it in top left corner on his weak foot within 30 minutes.

Southampton were awarded a penalty near the end of the half when Andy Robertson went in for a tackle on Tyler Dibling on the penalty box line. Adam Armstrong’s initial effort was saved by Caoiumhin Kelleher, only to then put in the rebound.

In the second half, a counter attack saw Dibling launch a perfect ball to Armstrong who laid it off for a Fernandes finish. When the Saints thought they were on a good run, a long ball to a running Mohamed Salah gave the Egyptian a fantastic one touch shot to equalise.

A penalty awarded to Liverpool following a handball gave Salah the chance to close out the game which he did in his usual style. This puts Liverpool eight points clear in the Premier League.

Trusting Dominik Szoboszlai

The Hungarian midfielder hasn’t had the impact at Liverpool that many fans would have expected. Hs initial spark in the first few games for the club started to die out.

The important thing was that Slot kept his trust in Szoboszlai, and it paid off today. Before the game, the midfielder had only managed one assist all season. From the get-go at St Mary’s the Hungarian was chasing balls all over the pitch.

He was rewarded for his hard work when a fantastic press on Southampton attempting to play out the back led to a cool finish on his weak foot into the top left corner.

Kept Salah playing

When the game was 2-2 and Liverpool were pushing for a goal, Slot would have had some hope knowing that Salah is on the pitch.

Even with their next two games being the European Champions Real Madrid and then the Premier League Champions Manchester City, Slot kept Salah playing until the end.

Many managers would have rested such an important player, but the Dutch manager’s decision paid off when Salah scored the two goals that gave Liverpool the win and increased their gap at the top of the table.

Challenged the Saints Keeper

Southampton were without ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale due to a broken finger. This meant they had to start 34-year-old McCarthy who has struggled as of late.

Throughout the game, Liverpool players were taking their chance with shooting. Players like Curtis Jones were shooting outside the box much more then they normally would. These shots were also always to McCarthy’s right hand post.

Clearly something that they had talked about in training, it paid off through Liverpool scoring the three goals they needed, although none were from the frequented long shots.

Poor tackling

Southampton were fiery on the attack as soon as the game got underway. Within the first 20 minutes, their pace on the attack had proven a challenge for Liverpool’s defenders.

This led to the Reds backline getting involved with some poor challenges. Robertson put out a frantic leg which took out Dibling for the penalty.

Ibrahima Konate and Connor Bradley both got booked within the first half-an-hour. These were from fouls they didn’t need to make, resulting in them playing the rest of the game with caution.

Gave Dibling too much space

Although Liverpool played with the tactic of letting Southampton come at them by playing out the back, they still needed to close down on key players.

The 18-year-old Dibling was given too much space for Slot’s liking. The young Saints star has taken the lead when it comes to Southampton attacks, and it was his determination that won them the penalty.

The midfielder continued to show his ability when, after having the time to look up, he launched a pitch-perfect pass to Armstrong who laid it off to Fernandes for the second goal.