Current Premier League champions Liverpool dropped more points after losing to Southampton, 1-0 at St. Mary’s Stadium.
Former Liverpool player Danny Ings scored the only goal to help the Saints gain three points in the league. Liverpool had several opportunities to score and a few controversial penalties which the VAR denied.
After the game, Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp was clearly frustrated because of the penalty the club was not rewarded. “[The handball] looked like a clear penalty,” and he told Sky Sports. “I turned to the fourth official, he said: We checked already, no penalty. What [referee] Andre Marriner did with Sadio Mane tonight, I’m not sure that’s ok, to be honest.”
Klopp also claimed that “I hear now that Manchester United had more penalties in two years than I had in five and a half years. I’ve no idea if that’s my fault, or how that can happen.”
However, despite the refereeing controversies, Klopp was clearly disappointed in his side’s poor performance against Southampton. “But it’s no excuse for the performance,” he said. “We cannot change it, we have to respect the decisions. But we can change our performance. That’s our focus now.”
In addition to the defense, Liverpool’s misfiring trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were questioned for their performances. Liverpool legend Steve Nicol criticized the club’s front three in a talk with ESPN, claiming “I think it’s pretty clear where the problems are. It’s up front. The front three are not producing, not delivering, they’re not even creating!”
Nicol also criticized their performances during the Southampton game, “Yes, at Newcastle they made opportunities but this Southampton game and the West Brom game, they never created anything. If you aren’t going to create, then you aren’t going to score goals.”
Nicol suggested that Klopp should “have a quiet word and a clever word with the front three.”
Liverpool should solve their defensive and attacking problems sooner rather than later or risk missing out on the Premier League.
