Liverpool have moved up to sixth in the Premier League table courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Southampton in Nathan Jones's first game in charge of the Saints.
Roberto Firmino gave the hosts an early advantage at Anfield, but that lead lasted only three minutes before Che Adams levelled things up after getting on the end of a James Ward-Prowse free kick.
However, a brace from Darwin Nunez saw Liverpool take control of the contest before half time, and they saw out the win to go into the World Cup break on the back of a positive result following an underwhelming first part of the season.
Southampton did create chances to get back into the game, with Adams forcing Alisson Becker into a particularly eye-catching save, and Jones will take positives from a difficult assignment in his first match at the helm.
However, the Saints, who sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl earlier this week, will now spend Christmas in the Premier League relegation zone for the first time since 2004-05, when they went on to be relegated from the division.
Firmino has historically inflicted most of his damage on Southampton through assists, but it was his smart backward header which broke the deadlock after only six minutes this afternoon.
Andrew Robertson's free kick appeared to be dropping a little short of its intended target, only for Firmino to flick it into the far corner, ending a disappointing week which saw him omitted from Brazil's World Cup squad on a high.
Southampton soon hit back as Adams claimed the first goal of the Nathan Jones era, heading home Ward-Prowse's free kick from inside the area.
It was Nunez who stole the show from then on, though, restoring Liverpool's lead midway through the first half when he steered Harvey Elliott's floated pass into the bottom corner with a first-time left-footed volley.
The Uruguayan, who unlike his fellow Liverpool goalscorer will be going to the World Cup in Qatar, then doubled his personal tally when he turned home Robertson's low cross at the near post - a 53rd Premier League assist for Robertson to equal the record for a defender in the competition.
That proved to be the final goal of the game, although there were chances in the second half with Alisson being called into action on a couple of occasions and Virgil van Dijk also squandering a couple of presentable openings.
Liverpool, whose manager Jurgen Klopp watched on from the stands as he served a one-game touchline ban, also handed James Milner his 600th Premier League appearance, as he became only the fourth player to reach that milestone.
The result sees Southampton slip to 19th in the table courtesy of Nottingham Forest's win over Crystal Palace, and they will end the day bottom of the pile if Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Arsenal later on Saturday.
Jones will no doubt take positives from elements of the performance, but his new side have now won just one of their last 10 league games.
The win also sees Liverpool end a dismal run of three successive league defeats against teams starting the day in the relegation zone, leaving them five points off the top four. body check tags ::
