Liverpool's Attack Cannot Muster Enough To Knock Off Saints

Liverpool came into their fixture against Southampton with quite a bit on the line.  While a draw would suffice if that was the final after 90, it would not have benefited the Reds very much.

A draw would have only put them up by four points over Manchester United with the Red Devils having two games in hand.  Not exactly the spot you want to be in with your destiny not in your hands

As has become typical in recent games, things got off to a slow start against a team lower in the table than Liverpool.  The Reds struggled to piece together a solid attack and were thwarted any time something began to build.

The one bright spot in the opening half was Roberto Firmino.  He never came tantalizingly close to putting one in the twine, but his performance was very good.

In the 15th minute, Firmino had a nice steal inside the area.  Unfortunately, his subsequent hot was blocked as he went far post and the defender was right there.

Firmino kept up his solid performance by out-muscling his opponent in the midfield in the 34th minute.  Again, the attack could not be formed though, as he could only muster a long, rolling shot that was easily saved.

Halftime came and no score for either team.  The scoreless draw after 45 was frustrating because the Saints literally conjured no attack at all.  Liverpool just had no way of breaking things down.

There was a lot of early movement by the attacking players for Liverpool.  It went in vain and you could tell there was frustration.  They became static as the half wore on and the Reds were trying to lob balls across the packed defense after that.

There was not much the Liverpool manager could do either.  Jurgen Klopp did a lot of jawing with the officials, but in terms of changing his attack there was only so much he could do short of putting new players in.

The second half did not yield much better in terms of final results.  Liverpool had more energy, but were not able to really create.

It seemed like Liverpool would get nothing out of the match as it went a full hour without anything happening.  Then the Reds were given the lifeline of a questionable penalty.

Even as a fan of Liverpool, I did not see the handball that was given for the Reds to have a penalty.  Perhaps it was justice that James Milner failed to convert. Fraser  Forester came up with a big save, but Milner should have gone for a higher shot.

Things finally opened up a bit around the 70th minute.  The back and forth nature even brought about the comment from Jon Champion that we might even see a proper game of football.

Coutinho's day was a little disappointing.  He was putting in the effort to get into good spots and even sent a few hard shots on target.  Unfortunately, his trademark whipping curler ended up at the goalkeeper each time.

In the 78th minute, it seemed like Daniel Sturridge might strike.  However, the ball released just enough near the spot that all he could do was toe-poke it toward the keeper.

By the final whistle, nobody had managed to bulge the old onion bag.  Perhaps we should have seen it coming since Liverpool failed to score against the Saints in four matches this season.

Now, Liverpool must hope for results elsewhere to fall their way.  They are only four points up on the fifth place team and can no longer fully control their own destiny.

They must focus on their final two matches and let everything else fall as it may.

Random Thoughts:
- Are soccer fans too used to not being able to use their hands?  It seems when a ball is blasted into the crowd, nobody wants to attempt to catch it.  They are content to take it off the midsection or even the head.

- I love Sadio Mane, but even as fast and creative as he is, it boggles the mind that he has made that big a difference.  There still should be enough quality in the attack for them to score goals, but goals have been harder to come by without him.

- It stinks to have to complain about a clean sheet.  The Reds played well enough defensively, though Southampton did little to actually attack.  Still, this game feels like points lost.

Walk On