Liverpool go 16 points clear as they come from behind to beat Southampton

Liverpool recovered from a Champions League hangover which threatened to produce the shock of the season to beat Southampton 3-1 and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 16 points.

At this stage of the season, a week is a long time in football but in the space of a few days, goalkeeper Alisson Becker went from hero to zero.

After his self-proclaimed best performance of his career against Paris St Germain on Wednesday, the Brazil international’s first-half mistake allowed Will Smallbone to put one of the worst teams in top-flight history ahead at Anfield.

It was no less than the hosts deserved after a lacklustre 45 minutes, which had the usually relaxed Virgil van Dijk berating his team-mates for their lack of energy.

Head coach Arne Slot – who was serving the final game of his touchline suspension in the Main Stand – saw it and, uncharacteristically, responded with three interval substitutions.

Wednesday’s match-winner Harvey Elliott, Andy Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister made an immediate difference as the tempo increased with Luis Diaz, who was lucky to escape the half-time cull after a lethargic display, also positively impacted.

With one of his first touches, Elliott forced the first save out of Aaron Ramsdale, with Robertson flicking an effort wide from a half-cleared corner.

It was the spark Liverpool needed and they turned the game around in the space of five minutes against the bottom side.

Diaz, showing a drive previously lacking, muscled his way past Kyle Walker-Peters to the byline and cut the ball back for Darwin Nunez to divert in first time from five yards.

The Uruguay international, making his first league start since Boxing Day, then won a 54th-minute penalty after he was brought down by Smallbone after Ramsdale parried Diaz’s shot.

Anfield fell silent but when Mohamed Salah stroked home the resulting spot-kick for his 31st goal of the season, it erupted again.

That equalled Ian Rush’s club record of 10 league goals against Saints and now only the Welshman and Roger Hunt have more Liverpool goals than the Egypt international’s 242.

It was the 19th-successive home game they had scored at least two, equalling Sunderland’s top-flight record from 1935.

Yukinari Sugawara’s handball in trying to fend off Diaz saw Salah dispatch his second penalty for his 184th Premier League goal, drawing level with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in joint-fifth on the all-time list.

Liverpool were far more recognisable as the team which has lost just once in the league this season – in September – with their second-half performance inkeeping with Slot’s assertion his players should treat this as a final.

It was understandable the visit of a team whose nine-point tally at this stage of the season is the second-worst in top flight history after Sheffield United’s eight in 1976 was not likely to get pulses racing, especially with PSG to visit on Tuesday.

But while Liverpool’s exertions in the Parc des Princes may have been a factor, especially as Slot made only three changes, the torpor on the pitch could not be predicted. Neither could the mistake by Alisson, brilliant in midweek.

In first-half added time, a result of a concussion injury to Jan Bednarek after a sickening clash of heads with team-mate Ryan Manning, Van Dijk attempted to usher the ball back to his goalkeeper.

Alisson did not read his intentions quick enough and when he did, tried to kick instead of pick up and got in a tangle with his captain and Matheus Fernandes, while Smallbone slotted the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs.

It was the wake-up call the team needed and after securing victory, the pressure was ramped up on second-placed Arsenal, who go to Manchester United on Sunday.

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