Southampton troll backfires as Liverpool get all three points

Emre Can

Emre Can didn’t get the most flattering review in the Southampton match programme ahead of Liverpool’s game against the club they love buying players from so much – but he managed to make them rather red in the face, with the club describing him as quite hit and miss.

The player, who is suspended for the first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League tie against Porto on Wednesday, put in a good shift, and while the headlines will go to Salah and Roberto Firmino, fans will certainly be hoping Can stays and decides not to move to Juventus on a free come the summer.

Firmino

One player who did brilliantly today was Roberto Firmino, who once again showed just how good he can be for Liverpool, and just how underrated he is when people talk about the likes of Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero.

Klopp was thrilled with his entire side after the game, and noted that they did well both going forward and also at the back, with the return for Virgil van Dijk turning out very well – and Lloris Karius showing Liverpool fans and Klopp how well he can do, and justifying the faith shown in him by his manager.

“It was mature,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “What we wanted to do, we knew about Southampton’s strengths and where they want to play football, and so we wanted to defend there, and we could have done it a little bit better.

“The rhythm was not too good, it was either really fast or really slow, not normal football passing speed.

“But we scored two wonderful goals, and could have scored more in the second half, we had some big chances.

“Southampton did well, that’s their style of play and that’s how they want to sort their problems. We deserved the three points, got a clean sheet and no injuries – nearly perfect.”