Liverpool reached the semi-finals of this season's Carabao Cup after beating Southampton 2-1 at St Mary's Stadium on Wednesday night.
The defending champions made big changes but still dominated the first half, taking a two-goal lead into the break thanks to Darwin Nunez's composed finish and Harvey Elliott's deflected strike.
Cameron Archer's impressive strike set up a nervy final half-hour for the Reds, but they simply held firm to secure a place in the last four again.
How the game played out
Southampton were behind just 36 seconds into Sunday's humiliation dedicated his work to Russell Martinbut interim manager Simon Rusk oversaw a stronger start from Saints as they initially restricted Liverpool with their deep five-man defence.
However, despite their consistency in the early stages, some poor defending conceded Liverpool to take the lead midway through the first half. Trent Alexander-Arnold's inquisitive pass was picked up in the air by Jan Bednarek, with Nunez running onto the loose ball before calmly slipping past Alex McCarthy at the back.
SouthamptonHis confidence was visibly dented by conceding the opener and Liverpool smelled blood, doubling their lead just after half an hour. Cody Gakpo picked out Elliott in the area after a sweeping move and the midfielder's low drive took a slight deflection on its way into the bottom corner.
Alexis Mac Allister came close to further tormenting a muted home crowd minutes after Elliott added his name to the scoresheet, but McCarthy produced an impressive reaction stop to deny the Argentine midfielder.
Liverpool continued to dominate proceedings after the restart, but Southampton were able to reduce the deficit just before the hour mark. A fortuitous deflection fell into Archer's path and the striker cut inside and fired a superb effort beyond the helpless Caoimhin Kelleher from the edge of the box.
The Irish keeper prevented Southampton from finding a quick equaliser, reacting quickly to deny Archer a close-range shot. Jarell Quansah was on hand to produce a similarly important tackle moments later, trying to block Mateus Fernandes' powerful effort.
Southampton pushed and pushed for an equalizer to take the game to penalties but failed to make good on some encouraging attacks, with impressive defending from Taylor Harwood-Bellis at the other end denying Federico Chiesa his first Liverpool goal on the embers the last one.
Quansah was perhaps lucky to avoid a red card in stoppage time after appearing to foul Fernandes as Liverpool's last man, with the Reds holding on to take a step closer to their first half of silver under Arne Slot.
Check out the player ratings for Southampton vs Liverpool here.
Slott made sweeping changes to its starting line-up for the trip to the south coast and fielded a special group of players, academy and first-team products. Without possession, Liverpool set up in their typical 4-2-3-1 formation, but the shape changed drastically when on the ball.
Alexander-Arnold was slotted in as a third centre-back alongside Quansah and Joe Gomez, allowing Wataru Endo to slot into midfield and create an extra body in busy areas. It was a risky strategy that left Liverpool without players when Southampton turned the ball over, but it was used effectively and paid off swiftly.
Endo's presence further up the pitch created space for the likes of Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott in the final third, allowing Liverpool to pull Southampton's packed defense and midfield out of position. Slot trusted his defenders to cover when the home side surged forward and his faith was rewarded before the half-time whistle.
Liverpool switched to a traditional back four after the restart – albeit a makeshift one with Endo at centre-back and Tyler Morton on the right – but Slot once again showed his tactical prowess during the first half.
Nunez had gone six games without a goal before arriving at St Mary's and the Uruguayan looked no closer to ending his drought in the early stages. Like the rest of his Liverpool teammates, he couldn't find space to maneuver during the opening 20 minutes.
However, a bit of luck came midway through the first half as he latched on to Alexander-Arnold's deflected pass, with Nunez showing uncharacteristic composure to put Liverpool ahead. With plenty of time to think hard about his decision as McCarthy headed back towards his goal line, the 25-year-old kept his cool and produced a clinical finish.
It wasn't a particularly eye-catching performance from Nunez, who moved to left-back after the introduction of Diogo Jota, but it should be a confidence-boosting goal.
Question marks were raised over Endo's future in the summer, with Slott not keen on the combative Japanese midfielder with the gum shield. He has been limited to cameos and the odd start in the Carabao Cup this season, with his long-term future possibly away from Merseyside.
However, Endo proved his worth to Slot on the south coast. As mentioned, he was given a challenging task during the first half, tasked with providing security in defense and creating space with runs in midfield. He played the role impressively.
After the restart, he served in an orthodox central defensive display – a function he performed on occasion for Stuttgart. The 31-year-old did exceptionally well as Southampton upped the ante and he finished the game making four tackles, two interceptions, two clearances and a block.
He was the busiest of Liverpool's defensive players and impressed in every move on and off the ball.