Sat once again in the Main Stand as he completed his two-game touchline ban, the Reds boss had to wait until half-time before unloading his anger in the dressing room and making sweeping changes with the introduction of Alexis Mac Allister, Harvey Elliott and Andy Robertson.

It worked, each contributing in their usual manner as Mac Allister added class and poise in midfield, Elliott injected enthusiasm and attacking threat while Robertson was everything the wayward Kostas Tsimikas was not at left-back.

By contrast, PSG rotated almost their entire team in winning at Rennes, a reflection of the lower intensity in Ligue 1 compared to the Premier League.



But the defensive performance of Trent Alexander-Arnold in helping quell PSG was a quiet reminder the right-back is capable of digging in when required.

Trent Alexander-Arnold fires five-word Liverpool warning to PSG as Darwin Nunez sends message	Trent Alexander-Arnold fires PSG five-word warning as Darwin Nunez sends Liverpool message	Arne Slot furious with players at half-time as Mohamed Salah sends message to teammates

And the confidence generated by that display was carried over here when, in the first half in particular, Alexander-Arnold was arguably the only Reds player to reach anywhere near his usual level.

So when Liverpool were revitalised after the break, Alexander-Arnold was inevitably influential, his range of passing prodding holes in and stretching an increasingly ragged Southampton rearguard.

One trademark seemingly effortless raking crossfield diagonal to Luis Diaz drew murmurs of appreciation from the Anfield crowd.

Diaz had been fortunate to still be on after following a disappointing showing in France with another poor 45 minutes.

The Colombian, though, epitomised a much more vibrant second half from Liverpool, not least with his direct running and strength that created the equaliser and won the penalty for the third goal.

And his rediscovered vigour was most evident when, in the 79th minute, Diaz raced back 50 yards into his own half to dispossess Mateus Fernandes.

Even when the Egyptian isn’t at his flying best, he continues to reach new heights.

His two penalties moved him on to 44 goal contributions in the Premier League this season, matching the previous best for an entire 38-game campaign held by Thierry Henry and Erling Haaland

And the only home Premier League game in which he has failed to do either remains the defeat to Nottingham Forest back in September.

With his nerveless finishes from the spot, Salah stands alone in third place in Liverpool's all-time scorers list with 243, and in second place for penalties converted with 42

Only Steven Gerrard, with 44, has more.

And this was Salah’s 250th win as a Liverpool player on his 390th appearance, smashing the previous quickest to that figure of 416 games set by Ian Rush