When you consider that they have now played Arsenal, Man United, Everton, Spurs, Chelsea and City away from home, all of the toughest trips of the season are out of the way.
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Ronald Koeman’s team started in sensational fashion at St Mary’s Stadium, with Sadio Mane heading them into a first-minute lead, and the visitors’ listless reaction offered little indication of the thrashing to come.
Sturridge found the back of the net twice in the first half while Derek Origi scored a hat-trick.
Liverpool have now won seven of their last eight games under Klopp but, even after inflicting Southampton’s heaviest home defeat for more than 50 years, the performance did not fully satisfy the new manager.
1′ GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Liverpool: Mane scores after 41 seconds for Saints!
Changing a manager is not always the solution to a club’s woes, but what we have seen at Liverpool in the last few weeks confirms that it can have a massive impact if the right candidate is appointed.
Clyne has emerged as a key component of Klopp’s plans at Liverpool, highlighted by Daniel Storey on this very site last month.
Adam Bogdan – After the first 20 minutes he was a virtual spectator.
“It is not a miracle what he has done”, said Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana, who used to captain Southampton.
As if Southampton were not hurting enough, Alberto Moreno (via Divock Origi) made it much worse.
Sturridge had looked worryingly short of confidence with his first touches, when he conceded possession and appeared reluctant to over-extend his fragile physique.
Joe Allen played the striker into the penalty area with a pass from midfield in the 25th minute, and after hesitating he showed exceptional composure to calmly place the ball across the face of goal and into the bottom right corner beyond Maarten Stekelenburg. The Villans did put up a spirited fight, but couldn’t quite match the hosts’ quality, as second half goals from Mayo Yoshida and Graziano Pelle made sure that Scott Sinclair’s 90th minute penalty was nothing more than a mere consolation.
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And shortly after Jordon Ibe completed the rout for Liverpool after some excellent work in the build-up by-you guessed it-Origi… He raced on to a ball forward from Ibe and lashed it into the roof of the net from the edge of the area to effectively finish the tie.
