This archive report was first published on 18 August 2019.
On August 17, 2019, Liverpool secured a hard-fought 2-1 win over Southampton at St Mary's, but their inconsistent display raised concerns about fatigue.
Despite struggling in the first half, Liverpool's Sadio Mane scored a crucial goal in stoppage time, giving his team a much-needed lead.
Roberto Firmino sealed the win with a clinical finish in the 71st minute, but a dreadful error by goalkeeper Adrian gifted Southampton a goal in the 83rd minute.
Adrian's mistake allowed Danny Ings to score, but the Liverpool goalkeeper's light-hearted words from manager Jurgen Klopp afterwards suggested that the team's performance was not solely due to fatigue.
"Southampton are a good team, they defend well with good counter-attacks, good organisation," Klopp said.
"It was nothing to do with the game in midweek. If we had come here with two weeks' preparation it would have been difficult," he added.
Despite the team's inconsistent display, Klopp praised their performance, saying, "I liked the game a lot. I'm not allowed to think too much about Wednesday but of course I know it so I was really impressed with how fresh we looked, at the start especially and how good we were."
