Southampton v Liverpool - 5 Key Talking Points
Southampton hosted Liverpool on Sunday in their 27th match of the current Premier League season hoping to build on their win against West Bromwich Albion in the last week. While the Saints looked fluid from the start, a defensive error from Wesley Hoedt gifted Mohamed Salah the opportunity to tee up Firmino and the Brazilian did not disappoint.
Loris Karius was called into action by Southampton and questions were asked but they remained mere questions as the Saints failed to get past the German and were duly punished by Salah who latched onto a beautiful back heel from Firmino to score his side's 2nd and final goal of the game.
Here are the 5 Key Talking points from the game.
#1 Salah-Firmino partnership gets the business done for the Reds.
A lot of Liverpool fans were pessimistic of the business done by the club in the summer transfer window citing the club's inability to bring in a proven striker. However, over the course of the season, the Liverpool attackers have shown that the club was right to place their trust in the available resources and that was the case yet again as the Salah-Firmino partnership yet again played a vital role in ensuring a critical win for the Merseysiders.
Both players scored one apiece and set up one apiece to ensure that the hosts on the evening did not get the desired result but one of them in particular, produced a moment of magic to ensure that his credentials as a leading attacker in Europe continue to grow, Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian had scored early in the first half after Salah had teed him up and duly returned favour late in the same half via a ludicrous backheel to set up the Egyptian. We are only getting into the business end of the season and Firmino has already scored 20 goals and assisted another 9 across all competitions making us wonder what the fuss at the start was all about.