Jürgen Klopp was just moments away from his first victory as Liverpool manager with two teams so close together on the table showing that they are just as closely matched on the park in this very even draw.
Second-half substitute Christian Benteke opened the scoring with a bullet header off an inch-perfect cross from James Milner. However, Sadio Mané put his side back in it in the game’s final minutes securing a point for the visitors, before getting sent-off in injury time for a two bookable offences in a matter of minutes.
The first-half went without a goal nor any real flurry of chances, but was very tight for the duration. Virgil van Dijk and Steven Davis had the best chances to break the deadlock, each miscuing efforts from inside the area to see Simon Mignolet make comfortable saves. Liverpool started the second period the brighter and barely let Southampton have touch of the ball, but were unable to turn their dominance into goals and the game soon reverted to an even contest.
Liverpool continue to draw games
This result at Anfield marked the fifth consecutive draw in a row for the Reds across all competitions, stretching back to equal a club record from 1975. Eight of the last nine games, both domestically and abroad, have been draws and six of those have been with a result of 1-1. Conceding at a rate of a goal a game is probably a comfortable statistic, with the defence not keeping many clean sheets but still far from poor in the Premier League.
The worrying side of the equation is the lack of goal scoring, a side with such lofty ambitions expected to be far more imposing on the scoresheet. Injuries in the forward line and a change in management could be blamed for causing some unrest and not allowing continuity to a certain extent, but far more is still required.
That was Liverpool’s 8th draw in their last 9 games in all competitions. pic.twitter.com/ijzz7AVyGR
— Football__Tweet (@Football__Tweet) October 25, 2015
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