Mo Salah and the Reds helpless against Southampton – Michael Steele / AP / SIPA
Liverpool is not at the party. The Reds, defeated 1-0 on the lawn of Southampton, have a third consecutive game without a win in Premier League . Undermined by injuries, especially in the defensive sector, Jurgen Klopp’s men can no longer find their weapons and this is their first place, shared with
Manchester United , which has one game less, threatened.
After the two very convincing victories against Tottenham (2-1) and Crystal Palace (7-0), which seemed to make Liverpool the favorite for a second title, the last two draws against West Bromwich (1-1) and Newcastle (0-0) were two first warnings. The sanction is more severe this time.
With Thiago Alcantara, back in the middle, and in the absence of central defenders Van Dijk, Matip and Joe Gomez, Jürgen Klopp had decided to leave Nathaniel Phillips on the bench and bring down Jordan Henderson alongside Fabinho, a position that ‘it has only occupied a few tens of minutes in recent years.
An offensive trio off
A losing choice. Liverpool missed the first period completely, after a very bad start, from the second minute of play. A free kick from James Ward-Prowse over the defense trapped Trent Alexander-Arnold, not sufficiently focused , and allowed Danny Ings to lob Alisson (2nd, 1-0). The Reds’ reaction has been very timid. Apart from a strike too removed from Sadio Mané outside the penalty area (20 e), they had no opportunity.
Just @ IngsDanny welcoming in the new year the only way he knows how 💥 pic.twitter.com/7HKPeHSnSs
– Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC)
January 5, 1303
The energy deployed in the last minutes mainly highlighted the absence of offensive options on the bench de Klopp, when Salah, Firmino and Mané are out of form (Diogo Jota is injured). They now have two weeks to prepare for the next big shock: the Manchester United reception, the January.