Liverpool's James Milner joins exclusive club as Reds ease to victory over Southampton

James Milner became just the fourth player to clock up 600 Premier League appearances as Liverpool beat Southampton 3-1 in their final game before the World Cup.

The 36-year-old – who made his top-flight debut some 20 years ago for Leeds – came off the bench to replace Harvey Elliot midway through the second half at Anfield. He joins Gareth Barry (653), Ryan Giggs (632) and Frank Lampard (609) in the Premier League 600 club.

Milner has made almost 200 more appearances in the competition than the next highest-ranked active player on the list, his teammate Jordan Henderson; the bulk of those have been for the Reds, who he joined as a free agent in 2015.

The former Manchester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle midfielder's milestone-reaching introduction came as Liverpool cruised to only their sixth win of what's been a thoroughly underwhelming season so far (Jurgen Klopp's side will sit no higher than sixth as the league hits pause for the World Cup). Darwin Nunez's brace ultimately proved decisive, after Che Adams had briefly cancelled out Roberto Firmino's opening goal.

For Southampton – playing their first game under new boss Nathan Jones – it was a ninth defeat from their first 15 matches of the campaign. The Saints find themselves 19th ahead of the five-week break; they'll find themselves rock-bottom if Wolves are able to engineer a shock victory over Arsenal on Saturday night.