Southampton kicked off 2021 in the ideal style as they produced a superb display to beat champions Liverpool 1-0 at St Mary's.

An early goal from Danny Ings proved enough to defeat Jurgen Klopp's side, although a lot of credit has to go to the Saints defence, as they worked tirelessly to keep out seemingly relentless Liverpool attacks in the second half.

Whilst Ings will get a lot of the credit for his goal, and Ibrahima Diallo will claim a lot of plaudits for his performance in midfield, it was perhaps the performance of Kyle Walker-Peters that stood out the most.

As per SofaScore, the former Tottenham Hotspur ace picked up a 7.4 rating for his display, with only Danny Ings, Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek rated higher of the Southampton players.

The right-back was always likely to be in for a tough game up against former Southampton man Sadio Mane on the left-wing but he was able to shackle the Senegalese international for much of the game, helping to limit the away side to just one shot on target during the 90 minutes.

During the game, the 23-year-old defender would win 11 out of his 16 duels, also making six tackles and seven clearances, which summed up the sort of battling displays he has consistently produced since joining on a permanent deal during the summer.

Despite the hosts struggling to keep hold of the ball in the second period, Walker-Peters was still fairly accurate with his passing, as he lost possession on just 12 occasions, whilst he also registered a solid 78% pass accuracy.

On what was something of a nightmare evening for his counter-part Trent Alexander-Arnold, the Southampton right-back has perhaps given Gareth Southgate something to think about before he names his next England squad.

Hampshire Live certainly seem to agree that Walker-Peters was superb on Monday night, rating him 8/10, although they ranked Diallo a 9/10 for his excellent display.

Perhaps Saints fans have simply been accustomed to Walker-Peters' superb displays of late, as Hasenhuttl's side have now kept eight clean sheets in the top-flight this season, which is the joint-most in the division and is testament to the influence the right-back is having in this Southampton side.

And, in other news, Hasenhuttl can sign his Redmond successor in 24 y/o "big talent"; he won't cost Semmens a penny...