SOUTHAMPTON // Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, insists the Anfield giantsâ pursuit of the Premier League title is not all down to Luis Suarez despite another virtuoso performance by the livewire Uruguayan.
Suarez, on his 100th league appearance for the club, was named man-of-the-match in the 3-0 win at Southampton that lifted Liverpool into second place in the table.
He scored the opening goal before his cross was swept home by Raheem Sterling for the second before his turn in the area proved too much for Jose Fonte in the last minute and Steven Gerrard converted the penalty.
But Rodgers would not single out Suarez for special praise.
âIt helps when you have a team and a squad. Luis was sensational. Although he has only scored four of our last 33 goals he is a huge influence,â said Rodgers.
âBut today was all about the squad and the collective.â
Saturdayâs win at Southampton, although never quite as comfortable as the margin of victory suggests, took Liverpool into second place thanks to Arsenalâs 1-0 defeat at Stoke.
A rare clean sheet and Suarezâs first goal in six games had fans who made the trip to St Maryâs singing about the title.
But Rodgers refused to get dragged into talk of the title, especially with Chelsea enjoying a four-point lead and with Manchester City having two games in hand.
âItâs good for the supporters to dream, but Iâm not focused on the title,â Rodgers said.
âIâm focused on winning the next game. Weâve had an outstanding performance today, a significant performance against a very good side with an excellent manager.
âThe players were tactically brilliant, we had a clean sheet, scored three and could have had five or six. But weâll stay calm. Ten games to go, weâre in a good position and we want to continue working at the level weâve been at.â
On Saturday, Rodgers packed the midfield in an attempt to nullify Saintsâ strengths, dropping Sterling to accommodate Joe Allen before Sterling eventually appeared to score with his first touch after Suarez had opened the scoring in the first half.
âWe analyse the strengths we have against the opponent we are playing,â Rodgers said.
âThe style will always be the same, we want to play and control and dominate the game. We blocked off their space and were a threat going forward.â
He added: âItâs good for the supporters to dream and they have seen the evolution of this team. Consistently over a year we have been playing at a really good level. So we stay calm, donât get carried away and look at the next game.â
Captain Gerrard also refused to make Liverpool favourites, although he agreed that he has a chance of lifting the trophy.
âCredit goes to the manager,â he said. âWe got it wrong here last season and when they beat us at Anfield but today he got the tactics spot-on.
âWe played longer and left two up top and if teams want to play two-against-two against Suarez and (Daniel) Sturridge, all the best.â
âI am sure many people are looking out for us because we have got no Europe, weâre fresh going into every game. All we asked for at the beginning of the season was: âCan we be in it with ten games to go?â and we are.
âI think Chelsea and Man City are still favourites. We just need to keep going and trying to win every game and with players like Suarez in the team we can beat anyone.â
Saints manager Mauricio Pochettino regards liverpool as among the favourites with ten games remaining.
âThey are candidates to win the league,â he said. âItâs a team with people of ability to do it. When youâre not clinical as we werenât against teams like Liverpool itâs always going to be difficult.â
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