An almost perfect weekend for Liverpool- they won 4-0 against Southampton and rivals Man City lost 2-0 to Tottenham, saw the Reds open a 22 point gap over their nearest title rivals heading into the Premier League’s winter break.

The first half wasn’t easy- one could say Southampton had the better chances, but the Reds grew into the game after the interval. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had sealed the deal against West Ham in midweek, got the Reds up and running in the 47th minute.

Skipper Henderson doubled their advantage on the hour mark and Mo Salah netted twice in the last twenty minutes to put the icing on the cake.

Here are the player ratings from local newspaper the Echo.

Henderson excellent, but fine games for Alisson, Firmino and Salah as well.

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Liverpool will be looking to make it two in a row in the Premier League when they travel to the South Coast to take on Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton today afternoon. The fixtures comes barely three days after the Reds travelled to Istanbul for the UEFA Super Cup- a visit that proved fruitful thanks to Adrian’s heroics in the shootout.

Liverpool beat Norwich 4-1 at Anfield to kick off their league engagements this season, while Saints were at the receiving end of a 3-0 scoreline against Burnley at Turf Moor.

Here is a look at various pundit predictions for Saints v Liverpool.

BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson has gone for a 2-0 Liverpool win, only one of two away wins predicted by him by this weekend (the other’s Newcastle away at Norwich)

Swimmer Adam Peaty, Lawro’s opponent for GW2, has tipped a 4-0 win for Liverpool, the biggest margin of victory for any Premier League side in his predictions for the weekend.

Onto Sky, where Charlie Nicholas has gone against the grain, predicting a 2-2 draw at St.Mary’s, saying he’s “not convinced by Liverpool” this season.

Some predictions from a couple of former Liverpool players from the 90’s- Stan Collymore reckons the Reds will win 3-1. Michael Owen also expects the Reds to take all three points, and backs Roberto Firmino to find the back of the net.

Robbie Savage has echoed Collymore’s prediction- another with a 3-1 win for the visitors.

Saints legend Matt Le Tissier reckons the travel and extra minutes played in Istanbul could work in favour of Southampton, and like Nicholas, has gone for a 2-2 draw.

Jermaine Jenas: Jenas reckons Liverpool will win, but won’t keep a clean sheet, with his prediction of a 4-1 win.

Phil Thomson reckons that Southampton will come flying out of the blocks, and it’s imperative for Liverpool to survive the first 15-20 minutes. Has backed the Reds to win 2-1.

So, to sum it up, everyone thinks Liverpool will win bar Nicholas and Le Tissier, and even they think the best Saints should expect is a point.