In another drab affair at Anfield, Liverpool essentially let Champions League football slip through their fingers, where few Redmen proved how important they are to the club.
Philippe Coutinho boosted his club’s hopes of a victory after he passed a late fitness test; however, the Brazilian was limited to solely long-range efforts, which failed to cause problems for Southampton ‘keeper, Fraser Forster. Coutinho seemingly couldn’t work his magic in the heavily guarded penalty area, with very few options ahead of him.
At the back, Simon Mignolet and his defence were kept quiet all afternoon, signalling the away side’s content to leave Merseyside with a draw. And so it was simply the fault of the Liverpool frontline, which simply had no effect on the game whatsoever. Divock Origi was once again invisible, while Roberto Firmino similarly failed to have any sort of impact on the dull affair.
James Milner’s missed penalty could prove crucial in the final Premier League standings, but this importantly shouldn’t be labelled as the sole reason why Liverpool didn’t win the game. They played like a side content with just a draw and seemingly failed to consider the rewards at stake, a feat that has hindered the Reds all too often this season.
Lucas was perhaps the only Liverpool players to seek out the all-important final ball and spark some creativity on the pitch, which seems bizarre in such a significant game for the home side. Even Marko Grujic, who played only the last five minutes of the strange affair at Anfield, arguably came closest from open play with a clever header that Forster tipped over brilliantly.
It was very much a case of players failing to be counted for in unquestionably one of the most important games of the season for Liverpool, however once again it seems bizarre that the Reds are relying on points from their last few games, rather than taking vital points from winnable matches earlier in the campaign.
With very little urgency from both the players and Klopp, a draw was probably a fair result at the final whistle, much to the agony of the thousands of Reds who supported their team throughout the entire 90 minutes.
Jurgen Klopp decided much too late to change the approach to the game, introducing the double change of Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana. The two linked up well immediately, with Sturridge finally causing some unease in the Southampton defence, although it was seemingly too little too late for the home side to do any real damage.
Lallana should perhaps have started the game after playing 70 minutes at Watford, while Sturridge has simply been foolishly ignored for quite some time this season, and will unquestionably be Klopp’s first man out the door in the summer.
Post-match stats epitomise Liverpool’s offensive display, where the Reds have failed to score in all four games against Southampton this season in all competitions, while the 0-0 draw this time around was only the third time that Liverpool have failed to score in 33 home games under Jurgen Klopp.
