Liverpool 3-0 Southampton: Three talking points

Liverpool, November 19: Liverpool made a strong mark on their return from the international break as they thrashed Southampton 3-0 at Anfield where Mohamed Salah scored a brace while Philippe Coutinho scored the other goal.

No Premier League player has more goals in all competitions than Salah's 14 this season which means that Liverpool got their man on an incredible bargain.

Here are three talking points of the game-

Salah cannot stop scoring

No-one, and I repeat, no-one, could have predicted what Jurgen Klopp got for Mohamed Salah for just £40m in the summer. These days, when the market is so inflated, it is really hard to get a player like Salah at that price considering the impact he has made.

Salah's brace took him past Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero to become the league's top scorer. His goals tally in his first 12 Premier League games made him not only the top scorer in English football, but also gave him a better strike rate at the start of his career than the Anfield legend Fowler himself.

Well, that is an incredible record for a winger who was notorious for his wasteful finishing.

Firmino is an engine

Well, we do judge a striker on the basis of how many goals he scores but Roberto Firmino, Liverpool’s number nine is on a league of his own when it comes to industry. The Brazilian leads the attack for the Reds as a false nine and against Southampton, he was at his best.

Firmino is pivotal to the way the Reds play. His steal from Dusan Tadic to give Salah his goal was a case in point. The Brazilian is a top-class player, but rarely gets the recognition his influence on games deserves.

Not too late for title charge

Well, Manchester City are not showing any signal of losing a game but there is still a lot of football to be played and Liverpool could still make a late charge for the title if the star players stay fit.

Yesterday was the first game of the season when the quartet of Salah, Mane, Firmino and Coutinho all played together and the Reds have also welcomed Adam Lallana back from injury who will be ready for action anytime soon.

A title charge from here is difficult bur not at all impossible!