Liverpool’s performance at St Mary’s was one to forget, just like the second-half shift we put in at Anfield against the newly promoted Norwich City.
In neither fixture, it didn’t matter – the Reds simply had too much quality in both games which overpowered the opposition.
The only problem is that we won’t be playing the likes of Southampton and Norwich every week – we need to buck up our ideas.
And, let’s be fair, the mid-week game against Chelsea, which ran on for over 120 minutes, really didn’t help the Reds in their Premier League exploits so criticism at this point may be a bit harsh.
What the 2-1 win on the south coast taught us though is that Liverpool are more than capable of grinding out results.
That’s going to be a crucial attribute if we’re going to press Manchester City again for another season. In 2018/19, we were worthy champions, but City went one better.
Last year the Reds drew five more fixtures than the champions, dropping a total of ten points, which put City ahead of us even though we’d only lost one game all season.
Previous title charges have fallen flat on their face because of an inability to grind out difficult results – the old ‘cold, rainy night in Stoke’ mantra comes to mind.
I’m sure I don’t have to remind any of you about that game against Crystal Palace in 2014.
With our stellar defence, and star-studded attack, I’d tip the Reds to go all the way again this season. It’s impossible to call who will lift the title, but it’s clear the Reds will be in the conversation after Christmas.
In earlier years, we’ve had to rely on one star player – think Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez – but we now have three world-class goal-getters in our team in Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane.
It’s set to be another dramatic year for the unbearable Reds.