SAINTS shouldn’t feel too down about Liverpool’s second-half blitz.

The Reds put Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side to the sword in an emphatic 45-minute spell – but the final score doesn’t reflect the story of the tie.

Saints could have gone in at half time two or three goals to the good if it wasn’t for Alisson Becker proving to be an insurmountable obstacle in the Anfield team’s goal.

Liverpool have beaten every Premier League side this season and look as though they’ve already got two hands on the trophy.

But you could tell Saints had them on the ropes during the first half.

Had Hasenhuttl’s starting XI been more clinical it would have been a completely different story.

Not only that, Saints weren’t helped by some of the decisions made by referee Kevin Friend.

The first of what could be called a catalogue of errors came when Andy Robertson passed the ball to Alisson.

Under pressure from Djenepo, the Liverpool full-back rolled it to the goalkeeper who then picked it up.

It was obvious to everyone in the stadium, especially to the Saints fans at the other end of the pitch, that Robertson knew what he was doing.

However, Friend proceeded to wave for the game to continue.

Things then went from bad to worse after the break which proved to also be the turning point of the match.

Danny Ings weaved his way into the area before being brought down by midfielder Fabinho.

At a first glance, it looked as though Ings ran into the Brazilian but when the replay came through you could see Fabinho stick out a leg that catches the striker.

Again, Friend waved the Saints appeals away and Liverpool countered in numbers, which resulted in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain striking his shot past Alex McCarthy.

VAR is continually checking on-field decisions throughout the game but sometimes you need the referee to have the guile to be brave enough to award a spot-kick.

It would be wrong to say Friend showed any signs of being bias, however, it’s no secret that big sides tend to get decisions in their favour when playing at home.

And, let’s face it, who would want to make a decision in front of over 50,000 supporters screaming for the opposite?

However, that's exactly what referees are paid to do and questions should be asked as to why there wasn't even a debate to be had about the penalty.

It's impossible to know whether it would have altered the game that much because of Liverpool's superiority, but Saints' performance didn't warrant a 4-0 defeat and that decision proved to be the turning point.