Saints’ European hopes were dealt a significant blow as all of their main rivals picked up vital wins last night.

Ronald Koeman's side are now facing potentially having to win all of their four remaining fixtures to get a Europa League berth.

Saints slipped to eighth last night despite not playing and, with only the top six currently guaranteed European spots, the odds of them reaching that position and bettering their best ever Premier League era finish from last season have lengthened.

Even if in the best case scenario results in other tournaments sees seven English sides enter European competition - as happened last season as Saints made it to the qualifying stages of the Europa League - they still face an uphill battle to make it.

Fifth placed Manchester United moved almost out of sight as they won their game in hand on Saints 2-0 against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford to open up an eight point gap between the sides.

West Ham are tucked in behind United in sixth, and now have a five point cushion over Koeman’s men after defeating Watford 3-1 at Upton Park.

Like United and Saints, the Hammers now have four matches remaining in their Premier League campaign.

The big movers were Liverpool, who leapfrogged Saints as they crushed Everton 4-0 in the Merseyside derby.

They changed places with Saints to move to seventh, now three points clear but with another game in hand still to come.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are in rampant form at the moment, and the big hope for their European rivals will be that they start to get distracted by their Europa League semi-final.

If Liverpool were to win the Europa League it would guarantee them Champions League football for next season, which they are unlikely to secure via their top flight finish, therefore surely making it a priority.