Nobody gets out the bunting for sixth place, but there is more to Liverpool’s inch-by-inch pro-gress up the table than first sight suggests.
This win edged them past Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, but the gap now separating Liverpool from clubs with loftier ambitions is increasingly small. They are a point behind Southampton, whose bubble may be about to pop, two points off Manchester United in fourth, three points away from Arsenal in third. Inferior goal difference means Liverpool will need to go that extra yard but, on this form, it is well within their power.
They scored with their first two shots on target in this game, the second in the 73rd minute, but that should not detract from the display. Southampton had three first-half penalty appeals — one of which was particularly convincing — but this was a gutsy, impressive win on a day that made it impossible to play the brand of football that is the trademark of manager Brendan Rodgers.
Liverpool had to tough it out instead, and did. In a spoiling swirl of wind and driving rain, not to mention strength-sapping bitter cold, they dug in against the formidable aerial power of Graziano Pelle, and the midfield worked hard. They have now kept five consecutive clean sheets away from home in the league — a record unmatched since 1985, the days of Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson. No, it wasn’t the prettiest, but it was never going to be, and Philippe Coutinho’s first goal at least was a thing of beauty.
It was fitting that it should take place in front of local hero Matt Le Tissier, too. It will not have greatly pleased him — he is too much of a Southampton loyalist for that — but he would surely have admired the artistry and the technique.
Lazar Markovic slipped a simple pass inside to Coutinho and he turned it into something truly magnificent with a curling shot from 30 yards. Le Tissier scored a few like that and it may have jogged his memory as Coutinho’s effort bent perfectly beyond the reach of Fraser Forster, struck the underside of the bar and bounced down over the line, as if the ball itself knew a degree of aesthetic flamboyance was required for such a finish.
That was after just three minutes, and 70 had passed by the time Liverpool struck their next shot on target, again with success. The fact that Southampton’s usually pin-sharp defence made not one, but two mistakes, on the way to goal illustrates the job that Liverpool had done by then. soaking up the pressure and leaving them exhausted.
One would never have guessed it was Liverpool that had played a European game as recently as Thursday. Southampton substitute Morgan Schneiderlin played a careless square ball directly to Alberto Moreno, whose forward run ended with a cross which should have been cleared by Matt Targett. Instead, off-balance, he tapped it helplessly to Raheem Sterling, who drove the ball through a crowd of players, goalkeeper Forster unsighted until it was too late.
So nothing to celebrate yet, but suddenly Liverpool have options. When Rodgers left out Daniel Sturridge many felt it was a sign he was prioritising the Europa League as the best entry route to next season’s Champions League. Not after this.
If it was even half in Rodgers’s mind that the small number of set-pieces required to secure cup qualification might prove less of an obstacle than an assault on a top four, he can now afford to play both ends. Manchester United must be worried. Squeezed by Arsenal and Southampton, and now Liverpool, the league is their only route back.
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