Injuries and fatigue forced Jurgen Klopp into making wholesale changes to his first team for Liverpool’s penultimate game of the season at Southampton. The Reds fell behind early but came from behind to beat the Saints – and drag the title race to the final day.
None of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander–Arnold, or Andrew Robertson started the game, with the former three omitted from the squad entirely.
It looked, if only for a moment, as if Klopp’s decision to make wholesale changes would derail Liverpool’s title bid – a loss against the Saints would’ve handed the title to table-toppers Manchester City. The home side led 13 minutes into the match, courtesy of Nathan Redmond’s fine solo effort. The winger drifted inside from the left, dropped his shoulder to beat makeshift right-back Joe Gomez, took another touch to open up space to shoot, and curled a shot into the top corner.
But Liverpool weren’t behind for long. Gomez made amends with his involvement in the equalizer. The Englishman drilled the ball into the centrally positioned Diogo Jota, who controlled it before sliding it through for Takumi Minamino. The Japanese, with the angle tightening every passing millisecond, slammed his shot past Alex McCarthy in the Southampton goal for 1-1.
Thereafter, the Reds controlled the game, with Jota going close with an effort from inside the six-yard area in the second half; Harvey Elliott did, too, when he blasted his shot onto the crossbar from the right of the goal. The winner arrived in the 67th minute – an instinctive finish from centre-back Joel Matip after Mohamed Elyounoussi had inadvertently flicked a corner in his path.
Liverpool held onto their narrow advantage for whatever time that remained, forcing a title showdown. Should they better City’s result on the final day of the season, the Reds will be declared the champions again.
