Chris Sutton blasts ‘reckless’ Liverpool player over ‘daft’ first-half moment v Southampton | OneFootball

Chris Sutton has slammed one Liverpool player over a ‘daft’ moment towards the end of the first half against Southampton this afternoon.

Despite the 58-point gap between the two teams at polar extremes in the Premier League table, the Saints went in at half-time with a 1-0 lead as Will Smallbone took advantage of a chaotic mix-up between Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk.

Frustration threatened to boil over during stoppage time when Darwin Nunez kicked out at Kyle Walker-Peters from behind and was shown a yellow card, with the Uruguay striker surviving a potential red card check from VAR.

Sutton slams ‘daft’ Nunez kick on Walker-Peters

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live (15:50), Sutton criticised Liverpool’s number 9 over that act of petulance, which the ex-Blackburn striker suggested may have justified a sending-off.

The 51-year-old said: “It was such a reckless, daft challenge. Liverpool lucky to have 11 on the pitch.”

(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

No excuse for Nunez’s petulance

For the second match in a row, Liverpool were left sweating on a potential red card on a VAR review, following on from Ibrahima Konate barging into Bradley Barcola from behind during the midweek win over Paris Saint-Germain.

The Reds were outplayed for most of that game and, in the first 45 minutes against Southampton, failed to show any signs of improvement. In truth, the Merseysiders can have few complaints about going in at half-time with a one-goal deficit.

On another day, Nunez could well have been sent off for kicking out at Walker-Peters, and it was a silly act borne out of sheer anger from our number 9, who earlier skied an overhead kick into the Anfield Road Stand and hit a weak shot straight at Aaron Ramsdale.

Liverpool will need cool heads if (at the time of writing) they’re to get back into this game, not the inexcusable petulance shown by the striker just before the interval. He needs to channel his frustration into scoring a vital goal for his team, not lashing out at opposition players.