Carra impressed by Liverpool's fight
The aspect of Liverpool's 2-0 win at Southampton that most impressed former defender Jamie Carragher was the tenacity his old club showed to preserve their lead.
Brendan Rodgers' team have been defensively sound for the majority of 2015 so far, clocking up a seventh clean sheet of the calendar year at St Mary's on Sunday afternoon and three points through Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling goals.
Emre Can, Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel combined at the back to thwart the efforts of Ronald Koeman's confident young outfit and thereby close the gap to the league's top four.
Watching on from his role as a television pundit, Carragher took equal delight and pride in the steely performance and how its elements showed a different side to the Reds.
He said: "What I liked [on Sunday] and in midweek from Liverpool is that they weren't at their best - in terms of how we associate how they have played with this new system, keeping the ball, getting Coutinho and [Adam] Lallana in the game and causing problems - but they have fought and got a victory.
"It was the same in midweek; they never played great but won. Over the last few months, since that Manchester United game when things changed - the system and performances and results - they have been superb.
"In the last two games they haven't been like that but have won. That's getting back to the Liverpool I know; you can't play well in every game, but they are getting results now.
"Every time they play you think they are going to keep it tight, and that's where it comes from because when you don't play well you rely on your defenders. That's five [league] clean sheets away in a row now - the best since 1985."