Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has pinpointed the key quality that is helping make Liverpool “unbeatable” this season.
The Reds extended their lead at the Premier League summit to 22 points with a on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors, though, were well in the game until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's opener two minutes into the second half, which came moments after Southampton claimed a penalty when Danny Ings went to ground under a challenge from Fabinho.
And Hasenhuttl said: “The first goal made all the difference. If we score it, maybe it's a completely different second half.
“But you could see they got a lift from it and they were strong. Their performance shows how strong they are – they had played on Wednesday evening.
“There's not a moment where you think they are underestimating you and that's what makes this team unbeatable at the moment.
“You have to be brave against them and we have been today.
“They were kicking the ball long and didn't know what to do against our high pressing, and that's not normal.
“But you know it's 90 minutes and even if we went 1-0 up by half-time there still would have been a long way to go. But we didn't deserve to lose 4-0.”
Of the penalty incident, Hasenhuttl said: “I don't see the reason why he should go down. He is alone with the goalkeeper in the area.
“He (Fabinho) hits him twice, the first is a foul and the second is a clear foul.
“It would not happen that Liverpool scored and then that was disallowed and we got a penalty. This we can forget.
“It was the crucial moment in the game. I don't want to speak too much about the referee decisions as my team played too well to lose focus on what they did.
“It was fantastic to watch, I enjoyed every minute from my team. I wanted them to never stop doing what we can do best.
“If we then concede four goals it's maybe a little bit too high but who cares. The way we played today, we showed up. I'm very proud of my team.”
Ings, who spent three years with the Reds before moving to Southampton in 2018, was a constant thorn for Liverpool and was given a standing ovation by the home crowd on his second-half substitution.
And Hasenhuttl said: “I wished him to score. It is fantastic when you walk off the pitch and the stand is giving you applause. It shows the atmosphere here.
“Him and Longy did a massive job, but the game was gone after 2-0.”
