Southampton 1, Liverpool 0: First Thoughts

Southampton 1: Redmond 20’
Liverpool 0:

• Pre-match Thoughts: Papa Lucas Leiva gets the surprise nod—in midfield! It looks like Klopp will revert to a 4-2-3-1, with Lucas and Emre Can on the double pivot, and Daniel Sturridge leading the line. Liverpool will be Toxic Yellowing it tonight.
• Liverpool are zipping it about with some nifty one-touch passing in the early going, but have yet to really challenge the Southampton defense. That crucial last pass into the box has let the visitors down in the early going, but otherwise good stuff.
• The Toxic Yellow Reds create the first real chance of the night after 17 minutes. Can picks out Adam Lallana’s run into the box, who heads it down into space for Roberto Firmino to hit first time. However, the Brazilian’s left-footed effort was a tame one, and a relatively easy save by Forster.
• And then Loris Karius comes up BIG on the other end, with a fantastic save, denying Nathan Redmond—inexplicably unmarked at the far post—from close range.
• Goal. Redmond wasn’t going to miss from that distance twice. The Southampton man took advantage of some horrendous Liverpool defending, and cooly slotted past Karius who was hung out to dry by his teammates.
• Livperpool have not shown a good response to going behind, with more sloppy defending and even sloppier passing in the five minutes since conceding.
• Karius pulls out another phenomenal save, once again denying Redmond from close range. Were it not for the much-derided German goalkeeper, the home side very well might be clear and away on the night, if not the tie.
• Halftime Thought: Liverpool started the match brightly, but Southampton have a deserved lead after some really shoddy defense by the Reds. Karius might have had a rough start to his Liverpool career, but he’s singlehandedly keeping the visitors in the tie tonight. Other than that, Firmino has once again put in a less-than-great performance, and Sturridge has yet to get involved in any meaningful way. And the defense has been all-around dogshit.
• Ten minutes into the second half and Liverpool are looking like the second best team on the pitch, and by a fair margin. Other than Firmino’s great chance just before conceding in the first half, Liverpool have just not been in it at all.
• Magic Unicorn sighting! Philippe Coutinho comes on for Georginio Wijnaldum. Hey Phil, I know you love scoring belters at St. Mary’s, and tonight would be a good time to continue that habit.
• Coutinho immediately makes this side look better. The Brazilian comes in and immediately starts dribbling past defenders, picking out passes, and winning corners. Welcome back, Phil. The rest of ya? Step your game up.
• At one point I was holding out hope for an equalizer. Now I’m just hoping to get out of here with a one goal deficit. The home side has been slicing up Liverpool all night long, and a 1-0 scoreline would rather flatter the visitors as it stands.
• Sturridge handed a sheet, presumably with some instructions, from the coaching staff. Well, either instructions or just a note from Klopp reading, “In this moment you need to score goals. Cool?” And then he littered. For shame.
• Divock Origi comes on for Firmino. Please do something.
• Things very nearly went from bad to worse for Liverpool. Redmond once again finds himself 1-v-1 with Karius after more comedic defending (Lucas being the main culprit on this occasion). The Southampton man managed to beat the on rushing Karius, but could only find the crossbar, and Lovren helped clear it off the line.
• Final Whistle Thoughts: That was arguably Liverpool’s worst performance so far this campaign. Liverpool never looked in it tonight, and they’re very fortunate that Southampton couldn’t take better advantage of all their chances tonight. Klopp & Co. will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a way to turn this around back at Anfield in two weeks.

We'll be back shortly to take an in-depth look at everything that happened in today's game with the full recap. Until then, let us know your take on the ups and downs of the match in the comments, and if you haven't already, join the community on the Liverpool Offside, where we'll have full coverage and lively in-game discussion for every match this season.