Arne Slot warned Liverpool not to get 'carried away' after Mo Salah's double sent the Kop eight points clear with a reminder that Arsenal had a similar lead last year.
The Premier League leaders trailed 2-1 to wooden spooners Southampton until Salah's second-half goals gave the flying Dutchman 31 points from a possible 36 to start. If Liverpool can beat champions Manchester City – who are reeling after five straight defeats – at Anfield on Sunday, their lead at the top could increase to 11 points.
But Slot warned against premature triumphalism at Anfield, saying: “It's a healthy advantage, but we also know what we had to put into it to take this lead and get these wins. And I just have to show the players that there was maybe one or two games for us where we won by a big margin, but the rest were all by a small margin.
“I think it was last year, even later in the season, that Arsenal were eight points ahead and City came back (to win the title). When you face Arsenal, City, Chelsea and all those other teams – Tottenham were great yesterday too – they are all capable of winning so many games in a row. So it's nice to have this position, but we certainly won't get carried away.”
Slot admitted Liverpool had to work harder for points than he would have liked ahead of Wednesday night's big Champions League date with European Cup holders Real Madrid.
But he said: “It is very difficult for English teams to do well in Europe because there is no team in the Premier League that does not cause big problems. This competition demands a lot from every player every weekend, and when you're not playing in Europe it's not always easy.
“Of course we are very happy, especially because we were already 2-1 behind after an hour. Maybe that wasn't a reflection of how the first hour went, because I think we dominated the whole game. If you end up 2-1 down after an hour, you might be over the moon if you win 3-2.
“Mo is a big player for us in big moments, and he has done it again. We always know we can trust him when things are difficult for us.”
Matchwinner Salah identified the City clash as a potentially pivotal moment and said: “Hopefully we keep going in this direction. We have a game against City so hopefully we win that and go 11 points wrong. City are in a bad place now, but they have great players.”
The Saints at the lowest level are staring down the barrel: not a single club that lost ten of their twelve games in the top flight has survived. But defiant boss Russell Martin said: “We broke records last season so we'll have to do it again.
“The frustration is that the goals we conceded were so bad. I could accept it a little more if we had been undone by moments of magic, but we limited the best team in the league to shots from outside the box.”
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