Jurgen Klopp has praised his side's impressive second half display against Southampton, hailing the 'involvement of Fabinho' as the catalyst behind their change in tempo.
The Reds were very disappointing in the opening 45 minutes, and Southampton were unfortunate not to enter the dressing room at half-time with at least a one-goal lead.
But Liverpool roared back after the break, scoring four goals and dominating proceedings, which Klopp believes was down to a tweak in tactics that increased Fabinho's involvement in the match.
"The set-up of Southampton I could not give more credit to. What a strange result in the end. It’s deserved because we score the goal but what a team.
"They had too many shots on target and we had to change in the second half. That helped massively and when we are rolling it’s difficult to stop.
"Even when it was 4-0 Southampton did not stop and I have so much respect for that."
The German boss was full of praise for the Saints, who caused all sorts of problems for the hosts in a complicated first half. Danny Ings spurned a great opportunity to give his side the lead, and coach Ralph Hasenhuttl was left rueing his team's lack of ruthlessness in the second half.
Liverpool grabbed the lead on 48 minutes, and the league leaders never looked back, tucking away another three strikes in a rampant second half performance.
Klopp then elaborated on his comments when talking to the press after the match, explaining that he 'had to change two or three things' to overcome Southampton's impressive setup, as quoted by The Mirror.
"We had to change two or three things [at half-time] and most importantly we had to change the involvement of Fabinho. And then we started rolling.
"The first half - I want to say wow, what a team Southampton is.
"I am so long in football and I've never seen a turnaround like that [from their poor start to the season]. Their set-up causes you constant problems and defensively very good."
Liverpool's 24th league win of the season means that the Merseyside club has opened up a 22-point gap over nearest rivals Manchester City, whilst Southampton slip back into the bottom half of the table.
Source : 90min