Liverpool set a new club record of seven straight victories at the start of a season as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Southampton at Anfield on Saturday.
The expectations have had a habit of suffocating the life out of Liverpool at moments like this. The absence of a league trophy these past 28 years has created what Jamie Carragher once described as a 'gaping, lingering void' and just a few wins - never mind the opening seven games for the first time in the club's history - does something to the dreamers in such a profoundly optimistic place.
It's why the composure was just as significant as the points, as the club equalled their best ever start to a league campaign since Bill Shankly was pulling up trees in the old Second Division, 57 years ago.
The exertions of overcoming Paris Saint-Germain did look to have taken a toll for a side whose preparations were limited by Storm Ali battering Melwood at their designated training time on Friday.
Mohamed Salah got back to goalscoring ways in added time at the end of the first half by tapping home from close range
The Egyptian lapped up the adoration of Anfield after making it 3-0 to Liverpool and sending the Reds enroute to victory
Salah got down to the turf and celebrated in his traditional manner after adding another Liverpool goal to his collection
On the 20-minute mark Liverpool went 2-0 ahead after Joel Matip rose high to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner
The German centre back out-jumped Southampton's Jannik Vestergaard to plant a powerful header on the ball
Matip roared in celebration after scoring for Liverpool on his first return to the starting line up for some time
There was a setback: Virgil v
an Dijk departing ten minutes into the second half after taking a blow to a rib which he had been suffering soreness with before Tuesday night's match against the French. Yet the difficulties were brushed aside. It became an exercise in game management, rather than the kind of football exhibition for which Klopp is known.
The manager played his part, removing Xherdan Shaqiri at half time having concluded that the player's considerable contribution, in his first start for the team, was to the detriment of keeping Southampton out. Shaqiri had played a big hand in two of Liverpool's three goals by then.
'I've never taken such an influential player off at half time without injury,' the manager said. 'I wanted to control the game.'
The Swiss had been rewarded for his endeavour inside ten minutes when his shot from the left side of the area pin-balled in off Shane Long and the knee of Wesley Hoedt, though Sadio Mane's subtle contribution to the goal was more significant. Meandering away from goal with the ball at his feet, Sane turned, shaped back the way he had come, and slid the pass inside Cedric which Shaqiri could pick up.
It was, in every sense, the game which shone a light on the depth of Liverpool's strength. Joel Matip had already made a significant impression on his own first start of the season before sending Trent Alexander-Arnold's 21st minute corner high beyond Alex McCarthy with a header of first class accuracy.
The Reds went in front with 10 minutes elapsed when Xherdan Shaqiri’s strike deflected off Shane Long and against the shins of Wesley Hoedt and over his own goalline.
Joel Matip then marked his maiden start of the season by netting his first goal since last November when he diverted a corner into the back of the net with his head.
Salah added the game’s third goal, slotting in from close range after Shaqiri’s stunning 25-yard free-kick had crashed back off the underside of the crossbar.
It meant Liverpool returned to the summit of the fledgling Premier League table, with Chelsea not in action until Sunday at West Ham United, as their outstanding start to 2018-19 continued.
The team news…
Jürgen Klopp made three changes with Shaqiri handed his first start for the club, replacing James Milner. Matip came in for Joe Gomez, while Roberto Firmino was back in place of Daniel Sturridge.
The action…
Liverpool started assertively as they set about looking to record a seventh win in succession and set a new club record in the process.
Firmino glanced well wide from a Shaqiri cross early on, while the Reds needed a fine block from Virgil van Dijk on a near-post effort from Long to keep the scoreline goalless.
However, the breakthrough arrived after 10 minutes. Sadio Mane’s intelligent pass into the left channel from a cleared corner released Shaqiri into space. His eventual shot struck Long and then Hoedt before diverting into the back of the visitors’ net.
The Reds threatened to extend their advantage on 21 minutes when Salah and Firmino exchanged passes on the edge of the area, only for the Egyptian to be denied a strike at goal by Cedric Soares’ last-ditch challenge.
However, from the resulting corner, Matip planted a firm header into the corner of the net to double the stronghold.
Southampton could have cut the scoreline in half three minutes before the break, but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg miscued from 12 yards out after Ryan Bertrand’s centre had found him unmarked.
Liverpool sprung forward quickly and Salah’s improvised back-heel under pressure from Jannik Vestergaard evaded the bottom corner by a matter of inches.
The No.11 had never previously gone four games without a goal for the Reds – and today wasn’t about to be the day that statistic changed.
In stoppage-time, Shaqiri’s sublime free-kick from 25 yards crashed against the underside of the crossbar and bounced up, allowing Salah to stab in from a yard out and make it 3-0.
Liverpool made a change during the interval with Shaqiri making way for Milner – and they were forced into another substitution shortly after the restart as Van Dijk failed to recover from a midriff issue, with Gomez sent on to replace him.
The hosts dominated the ball for the majority of the half, but there was little to report in terms of chances for either side.
Andy Robertson scooped a late volley over the crossbar and Salah had a goal ruled out for an adjudged offside at the finale.
But Liverpool’s work had been done in the first half – and their winning sequence stretched to seven games in all competitions.
Live table
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 6.5, Matip 6, Van Dijk 8 (Gomez 55, 6), Robertson 6.5; Shaqiri 7.5 (Milner 46, 6), Henderson 6.5, Wijnaldum 6 (Keita 70, 5.5); Mane 6.5, Salah 6, Firmino 6.5
SUBS NOT USED: Mignolet, Fabinho, Sturridge, Moreno
GOALS: Hoedt og 10, Matip 21, Salah 45+3
MANAGER: Jurgen Klopp
SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-1-1): McCarthy 6.5; Cedric 6, Vestergaard 5, Hoedt 5.5, Bertrand 5; Redmond 6.5 (Bednarek 55, 5), Romeu 5, Hojbjerg 5.5, Targett 5 (Armstrong 55, 5); Lemina 6; Long 6(Austin 79, 5)
SUBS NOT USED: Gunn, Yoshida, Davis, Ward-Prowse
BOOKINGS: Romeu, Lemina
MANAGER: Mark Hughes
REFEREE: Paul Tierney
ATTENDANCE: 53,274
MAN OF THE MATCH: Van Dijk
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