Stand and Dell-iver!

Stand and Dell-iver!

from "Press Association"

It is a measure of a good side that they can win when below par. Arsenal have it, but Liverpool have lost it.

The Red Machine appears to have serious problems that require an urgent and drastic re-think especially when the team fail to win games they dominate.

And in Liverpool terms it is hard not to think of a crisis when they have dropped 23 points out of their last 14 games.

Liverpool have only three League wins to their name in 20 outings to The Dell and it became apparent it was not going to be their day when Saints opened the scoring in the fourth minute.

Matthew Le Tissier struck a shot from outside the penalty area that Mike Hooper appeared to have covered, but it was deflected off Gary Gillespie's leg and it was just enough to divert it past the startled keeper.

From then on Saints were under the hammer as Liverpool pounded their goal and created ten clear chances in the first-half.

But they were also robbed of an Ian Rush goal in the eighth minute which was disallowed after the referee adjudged the Welsh striker to have used an arm in controlling the ball. Rush pleaded it was accidental as he could hardly have done anything else when Neil Ruddock drove a clearance straight at him.

Liverpool kept up the pressure and John Barnes, Peter Beardsley and Ray Houghton all forced Tim Flowers into making great saves and when he was beaten by Rush again Mickey Adams was there to clear off the line.

Saints came more into the game in the second-half and shaded Liverpool in terms of scoring opportunities with Hooper making a spectacular double-save to deny Alan Shearer and Ruddock. He was fortunate also that when he was beaten Gary Ablett was able to clear off the line from Le Tissier and Shearer was denied by Beardsley in similar circumstances.