What Arne Slot received proper and mistaken as uninspiring Liverpool make arduous work of Southampton
Arne Slot was forced to shake his side up at half-time as Liverpool came from behind to beat bottom of the table Southampton and move 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League
Arne Slot’s Liverpool moved 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a 3-1 win over Southampton.
Liverpool hosted the Premier League’s basement club on Saturday afternoon off the back of their unbelievable smash and grab victory away at PSG in the Champions League in midweek.
Before kick-off, there was seemingly only one outcome with the Reds cantering unopposed to the title. But that wasn’t exactly how it panned out.
The Reds were far from dominant in the opening stages, with the visitors having the first two shots on target of the game, forcing Alisson into saves, although they were not as spectacular as his midweek heroics.
Southampton made the league leaders pay for their sloppiness as Will Smallbone pounced on an error between Virgil van Dijk and Alisson to send the visitors ahead at half-time.
Slot reacted by making a triple substitution at half-time and the impact was almost immediate as Darwin Nunez equalised just six minutes into the second-half before Mohamed Salah converted from the spot three minutes later to turn the game on its head.
Salah then stepped up from the spot again to seal the three points and send the Reds 16 points clear at the top of the table. Here, the Daily Star Sport looks at what Slot got right and wrong as the Reds make hard work of Southampton win.
First-half hangover
Liverpool’s smash and grab victory in Paris on Wednesday was a huge result given that the Reds were completely dominated by PSG but managed to grab a lead heading into the second-half.
Their midweek exploits saw Slot make a couple of changes to the side, but the majority of the core of the squad was still in place, leaving zero excuse for Liverpool to have been so lacklustre and sloppy in the first-half.
Alisson and Van Dijk’s mix-up that gifted Southampton a go-ahead goal capped off a miserable first-half. Despite their position in the league and in Europe, Liverpool too often this season have been off the boil, whether through complacency or lack of invention. If they had any challengers for the league title, that could have proved to be an issue.
Half-time switch
Slot was clearly frustrated with the first-half performance and his seat in the stands, as he serves a touchline ban, gave him the clearest view in the house of just how drab his team were in the opening 45.
The Dutchman introduced Andy Robertson, Harvey Elliott and Alexis Mac Allister for Kostas Tsimikas, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai at half-time, and those changes paid instant effect.
Within 10 minutes of the restart, Nunez and Salah’s goals had flipped the scoreline and the game as a whole, with Liverpool continuing to dominate proceedings.
Taming Darwin Nunez
Liverpool fans saw the best and almost worst of Nunez today as the Uruguayan found himself at the centre of the game. Starting in the focal role after coming off the bench against PSG to set up Elliott’s winner, Nunez was his chaotic self.
Nunez found the back of the net with a tidy finish as he got in front of his man to poke the ball home from Luis Diaz’s cut back to equalise. However, the striker almost got himself sent off in the first-half.
Just moments after Southampton scored, Nunez was booked for a stupid challenge on the halfway line. The 25-year-old swiped out at Kyle Walker-Peters, sparking a furious reaction from the Saints players before the yellow card was produced.
Nunez’s challenge was anything but clever as he luckily failed to make serious contact with his wild kick. Instead, the initial knee-to-knee contact felled Walker-Peters, actually taking him out of the way of the brunt of Nunez’s tackle and saving him from being sent off as VAR checked the incident.
Looking ahead to PSG
Slot made a couple of changes and wasn’t afraid to act at half-time to add life into the performance, nor did he hesitate to withdraw key players with the second leg of the Champions League against PSG to come on Tuesday.
Nunez was replaced by Diogo Jota, with the Uruguayan seemingly in line to start in midweek, while Ryan Gravenberch was replaced by Wataru Endo with 10 minutes left to play.
Liverpool are unlikely to see themselves under as much pressure as they were in Paris in front of their home fans. But the French champions will prove a major threat, especially if the Reds play anywhere near as uninspiringly as they did against Southampton.
