1. Liverpool still not assured of top four

Liverpool's grip on a Champions League place looks increasingly tenuous after a third consecutive home game without a win, but they only have themselves to blame.

Should they fail to reach the top four, they may look back on James Milner's 66th-minute penalty, saved by Fraser Forster, as a decisive moment. But in truth, they rarely looked like opening up a Southampton side that fully merited a goalless draw.

A quarter of an hour elapsed before any serious goalmouth action, and when it came Oriol Romeu was lucky not to be punished more severely after conceding possession to Roberto Firmino just outside his own area. The Brazilian's shot was blocked by an astutely positioned Maya Yoshida but thereafter the first half was almost entirely devoid of meaningful incident.

The pattern continued beyond the hour, Liverpool huffing and puffing but snatching at their opportunities to create while an obstinate Southampton kept their shape. Emre Can blasted over from range but could not provide a spectacular contribution this time.

Yet it was the same combination that saw off Watford on Monday -- a deep ball from Lucas Leiva towards Can -- that should have unlocked the door here. As Can battled to win a header, Jack Stephens blocked using the top part of his arm and referee Robert Madeley awarded a penalty for handball. Up stepped Milner but in keeping with Liverpool's afternoon, his low effort to Forster's right was repelled superbly. The goalkeeper had confronted Milner as he prepared to take the kick; perhaps he had done enough to spook his opponent.

Jurgen Klopp threw on Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana for Lucas and Divock Origi and Sturridge, offering some invention at last, worked himself an opening in the box but prodded at Forster.

In the second minute of injury time, Forster excelled again, acrobatically tipping over a header from Marko Grujic. That was to be Liverpool's last chance of a potentially costly afternoon in which they came to life far too late.

2. Familiar struggles for Klopp's men

Liverpool flopped at home again and Klopp will be scratching his head for the reasons. The manager used his programme notes to gee up Liverpool's supporters, mindful that their previous two home games -- against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace -- yielded a single point. He asked Anfield to be "bouncing and full of energy" but what followed was hard going both on the pitch and in the stands.

By half-time there were groans as yet another aimless ball from deep drifted out of play. Liverpool looked uncertain from the start and that transmitted itself to their supporters, who have become used to seeing their side struggle to fulfil their more winnable-looking assignments.

For a team whose strengths are energy and movement, there were not enough of either. Little came off for Philippe Coutinho, while there have to be doubts about the ability of Origi to lead the line at this level. The absence of Sadio Mane, who gives Liverpool a speed and directness that was barely in evidence here, was keenly felt. Liverpool came up against a compact brick wall in the middle and a dose of extra trickery in wide areas could have been decisive.

3. Stubborn Saints make a point

The hex Southampton appear to have cast on Liverpool continues. They had not conceded in three matches against Klopp's side in 2016-17 prior to Sunday's visit and this gutsy performance brought up a 360 minute-long shutout. They contested a goalless Premier League draw at St Mary's and defeated them in both legs of their League Cup semifinal. Despite having little to play for in midtable this time around, the Saints were intensely irritating opponents again here.

Boss Claude Puel fielded the same side that gave Chelsea problems earlier in the month before losing 4-2 at Stamford Bridge, although there were fewer thrills in the way they approached matters here. A central midfield three of Romeu, Steven Davis and James Ward-Prowse was tasked primarily with staying flat and narrow out of possession, preventing Liverpool from building attacks through the middle. Discipline came ahead of invention and the hosts were restricted primarily to speculative long-range efforts in the first half. While Southampton broke forwards a few times in response, they did not commit enough men forward to look like threatening Simon Mignolet's goal.

Instead they showed enough discipline to gain a point that edges them into the top half. Wide men Sofiane Boufal and Dusan Tadic, neither of whom is renowned for solid defensive work, put in tireless shifts while Nathan Redmond performed similarly after replacing the former on the hour.

There might even have been greater reward had Tadic not centred too far in front of an unmarked Shane Long. But despite growing into the game as an attacking force as an increasingly desperate Liverpool left spaces in midfield, Southampton created little of note.

Stephens' handball was Southampton's only real moment of indiscipline and their point was well deserved. If Liverpool finish the season both trophyless and outside the Champions League places, their toils against the Saints will have been a huge factor.