Joe Allen says he and his Liverpool teammates are determined to try and make Anfield a fortress once again and make life difficult for opponents, starting with Sunday’s visit of Southampton.

The Welsh international insists the style of football new boss Jürgen Klopp wants the team to play will excite the supporters, but he admits their home form is crucial if the Reds are to challenge for the top-four positions.

“It’s huge [home form] for any team, but I think if you look back to the season where we finished runners-up our home form was incredible,” Allen told Liverpoolfc.com.

“Teams were dreading coming to Anfield and you almost felt that walking out onto the pitch, and you were ahead already, so that’s what we want to try and recreate and we want to give the fans things to cheer about.

“We want good results, exciting performances and I think the brand of football the manager wants to bring is going to do that in itself.

“I think the supporters will respond really well to it and it only takes one or two things to set that ball rolling, and hopefully we can go on a great run at Anfield.”

Ronald Koeman’s Southampton will arrive at Anfield with the same number of points as Liverpool, but the Saints have a better goal difference.

Allen insists they are a team that the Reds certainly won’t take lightly, especially after their last away outing saw them beat reigning champions Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.

He added: “Even before the start of this season and even the previous 18 months before that they have really proved themselves to be one of the top teams in the Premier League.

“It’s certainly not an easy game for us. Early on last season in this fixture we found it very tough to get the win, so we certainly won’t be resting on our laurels for this game.

“They are unbeaten away from home as well, so it’s one I’m sure that will test us, but we’ll take the positives from the game at White Hart Lane and use them to get us that win.”