Liverpool loses to Southampton, opens door for Manchester United

Liverpool FC has suffered another blow to their Premier League title defence after a 1-0 loss against Southampton on Monday.

While this is only Liverpool's second league loss of the season, it is a far cry from their sheer dominance in 2019-2020. The loss also puts them in a vulnerable spot at the top of the Premier League table. As it stands, they are level on 33 points with Manchester United, with the Red Devils sitting on a game in hand.

Manchester City also has the opportunity to leapfrog the defending champions at the top of the table, having played two games less and only four points adrift. Jurgen Klopp's side has taken only two points from the last nine available, and will likely relinquish the lead if the two Manchester teams win their upcoming games.

Last night, Danny Ings scored the winning goal for Southampton inside the first two minutes with a precise lob over Liverpool keeper Alisson. The shot came off a free-kick by James Ward-Prowse, and ended up being the only goal of the entire match.

It was a setback for Liverpool, but it was an emotional achievement for victors Southampton. They were able to secure only their first win in the past five league games. The relief and sense of achievement at defeating such a high profile team was evident as manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was seen sinking to his knees at the final whistle.

The victory takes Southampton up to sixth place.

Both sides were missing some key players for various reasons. Liverpool has been having an injury crisis almost as soon as the season started. Meanwhile, Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was unavailable due to a positive coronavirus test. Jannik Vestergaard, Oriol Romeu and Che Adams were also unavailable due to injuries.

Liverpool tried their best to bombard the Southampton defence in the second half, but Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens were able to hold on to keep the Reds down to a single shot on target.

Manchester United will be attempting to take the top spot when they face Burnley next week. City will then take their chance against Brighton.