Premier League: Liverpool beat Southampton 4-0, move to second spot

Goals from Diogo Jota (two), Thiago Alcantara, and Virgil van Dijk helped Liverpool put up another strong performance as they defeated Southampton 4-0 and claimed three points in a Premier League contest. The win helped Liverpool (28) move to the second spot in the table behind Chelsea (29) and ahead of Manchester City (26) -- both of whom will take the field on Sunday.

Skipper Jordan Henderson took satisfaction in their performance as his team scored four goals in their second league match in succession. It brought to an end a good week for Henderson and his teammates, having beaten Arsenal, FC Porto, and Southampton on Saturday in that time and kept clean sheets in all three fixtures.

A pair of close-range finishes from Jota established a lead for the Reds that was extended by Thiago Alcantara, with help from a deflection, before half-time.

Virgil van Dijk fired in a fourth against his former team early in the second period as Liverpool added gloss to an impressive win - their third win in a week at Anfield.

Juergen Klopp Klopp made six changes to the team that started the preceding win against FC Porto, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Jota brought in.

In other matches in the Premier League on Saturday, Arsenal rode on two second-half goals by Bukayo Saka (56the min) and Gabriel Martinelli (66th min) to beat Newcastle United 2-0 as they took the fifth position in the standings with 23 points from 13 games.

Arsenal showed character after suffering a 4-0 thrashing at Anfield last week to score their seventh win in 13 games.

Crystal Palace lost to Aston Villa 2-1 while Norwich City played out a goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In the big matches on Sunday, leaders Chelsea take on a struggling Manchester United while Manchester City play West Ham United at home.

--IANS

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