Southampton 0-2 Liverpool: The verdict

Saints do not lack belief in the method, in the way they play. They don’t lack belief in the way they defend. But they are desperately short of confidence in the final third, particularly when playing at St Mary’s.

Not long ago Koeman dismissed suggestions Saints were struggling at home. He surely cannot make that argument any longer.

Five away wins on the spin, five home games without victory, and no goals in the last three of those. The last time Saints won at St Mary’s was New Year’s Day – and this from a team that still remains in fifth place with just 12 games to go.

The thing is that if Koeman doesn’t work his magic again, as he did so brilliantly when Saints looked short of puff and spluttered to five losses in a row at the back end of last year, this fantastic season could just ebb away at the last.

When you look through the front players you find a list of individuals that look short on confidence. Collectively, as you would expect, it is little better.

One incredible victory over Sunderland aside, Saints haven’t been rampant in front of goal all season at St Mary’s, but they have at least done enough to win games.

That has not been the case of late.

In the second half Saints fans got so frustrated with their side they chanted ‘we’re gonna shoot in a minute’ as an over elaborate free kick in a promising position dribbled out harmlessly for a goal kick.

They have been guilty of trying to score the perfect goal, of over playing. It’s less a case of not taking responsibility and more of just trying to create chances that can’t be missed.

With those places in the table from third to seventh concertinaed up and Saints still in there the season remains alive and kicking.

But if the big ambitions are to be realised Koeman needs to find a way to get his troops believing in themselves and their attacking abilities once again.

Against Liverpool you could fairly argue Saints were not helped by the weather, which emphasised errors, and by the referee, Kevin Friend.

Had just a couple of his decisions gone Saints’ way the game could have been hugely different.

But for all that Liverpool were shaky at the back early on, and left a lot of space between the lines in the first half. Saints had more of the ball but struggled to create much.

The first half was a tale of one under fire referee and one incredible strike.

Friend did the remarkable job of uniting the Saints fans in disliking him more than Dejan Lovren, who got far more stick than Adam Lallana on their returns to St Mary’s.

It took just 17 seconds of the game for Saints to first ask a major question of the official as Graziano Pelle won a big flick on that put Filip Djuricic in on goal. Emre Can came across and Djuricic went down.

There was certainly an element of contact, with a hand on the shoulder of the Saints man, but it would have been soft one, albeit one you see given. Friend, possibly with the realisation that he would have had no option but to also send Can off, wasn’t having it. On balance it was probably the correct decision.

Next up was the incredible shot as Liverpool took the lead on three minutes.

Lazar Markovic played in from the right to Phillipe Coutinho.

Saints allowed him too much space and it gave the Liverpool man a chance to take aim and fire in a remarkable right footed shot from 25 yards that flicked off the underside of the bar and in. Fraser Forster had no chance and could do no more than watch as the ball flew towards his top right hand corner.

The pulsating pace of the early moments of the game continued as Saints had another penalty appeal waved down a minute later.

It was Pelle to Djuricic again, this time Joe Allen sliding in but failing to get close to the ball.

The Serbian went down in the area and a penalty clearly should have been awarded. Friend didn’t give it and Eljero Elia’s follow-up shot was saved by Simon Mignolet at the near post.

Liverpool had a spot kick turned down too as Jose Fonte produced a flawless tackle to take the ball and then Raheem Sterling. This time Friend without question got it right.

That was probably not the case a minute before half time as Elia sprung the Liverpool offside trap and tried to loft the advancing Mignolet. The keeper stopped with his arms but it appeared he was just outside the area when he did so, though in fairness it was tight.

There was still more action for Friend before the half time whistle as a corner appeared to strike Lovren on the arm, but again it wasn’t given.

Djuricic rounded off the action with a shot through a crowd that Mignolet beat away.

Koeman threw on Morgan Schneiderlin at half time, and Sadio Mane, who had been dropped for being late, not long afterwards, to try and add some quality to Saints’ build up. It did, but it didn’t prove decisive.

The best Saints managed were half chances, Pelle dragging a shot from distance wide and Mane chesting and hitting a shot on the spin that was blocked by Martin Skrtel, while Mingolet saved with relative comfort from a Dusan Tadic free kick and a Schneiderlin overhead kick.

Liverpool killed the game with a second goal on 73 minutes, though it was Saints that gifted it to them.

Schneiderlin gave the ball away with the pass of a man not match sharp after several weeks without playing, and Liverpool showed much more decisive intent going forward.

They appeared to have been thwarted as a loose ball came to Matt Targett in his own area.

However, he made a total mess of trying to clear with his right foot and presented the ball to Sterling, whose finish took a slight deflection and beat Forster.

It’s exactly the kind of scrappy goal Saints would love right now.

They just need the belief to find it.