Liverpool just won 6-3 at Tottenham, thereby maintaining the top position in the Premier League after round 17. They have 39 points after 16 matches, 4 points ahead of the second-placed team Chelsea, but The Blues have played all 17 matches. If they win against Everton in the postponed match, the gap will be 7 points, relatively safe.
After the match, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson were the last to leave the field. They did not seem too happy with this great victory. Liverpool's defensive duo have experienced the ups and downs and glory under Jurgen Klopp. They know that being at the top of the table before Christmas does not mean much, so they cannot celebrate too soon.
In the past years, when competing with Man City for the championship, Liverpool also topped the table before Christmas in the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 seasons. However, they were then defeated by The Citizens at the end of the season. In the previous two seasons, Arsenal also led the table with a safe distance from Man City but were still defeated. Therefore, Liverpool need to be more persistent.
Robertson and Van Dijk's caution was justified because Liverpool had led 5-1 at one point but then gave their opponents some very dangerous minutes to fight back. When the score was 5-3, Liverpool players began to panic because with Spurs' strong fightback, just one more goal before the 90th minute, everything would be very different.
Liverpool had 24 shots, 12 on target, created 9 big chances and had an expected goals (xG) of 4.6. Fortunately, these stats remained stable until the final minutes and helped The Kop win all 3 points.
15 months ago, Liverpool, on their trip to Tottenham, suffered a defeat that felt like the referee had "betrayed" them. Luis Diaz's legitimate goal was disallowed by VAR, plus red cards for Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota, leaving Jurgen Klopp and his team heartbroken. 15 months later, with the same squad, Liverpool returned to North London and crushed Tottenham in the truest sense.
There was much to admire about Arne Slot's Liverpool in their recent victory. It was not just the speed and precision, but also their tenacity. Liverpool maintained a fast counter-attacking rhythm from the first minute to the last. The distance between the players in the high-up phases was always guaranteed. They were calm, confident and maintained an overwhelming attacking position from start to finish. It must have taken a great physical foundation, combined with tenacity to help The Kop maintain such good form.
The epitome of persistence is Mohamed Salah. Liverpool's "one-season player" has been superb in his seventh season at Anfield. Salah is currently the Premier League's top scorer with 15 goals after a brace against Tottenham. He is also the first player in Premier League history to surpass the 10 goals and 10 assists mark before Christmas.
Salah is 32 years old this year but still plays well from season to season, from match to match. His teammates, especially the new and young ones, when looking at Salah cannot help but try to emulate that perseverance.
"This match was probably our best performance away from home. It was absolute dominance in terms of the game. Liverpool played much better than Tottenham. The whole team scored 6 goals and could have scored more if we had taken advantage of them" - Arne Slot shared.
The question now is how long Liverpool can maintain their top spot after their resounding victory over Tottenham. Fortunately for Slot, The Kop's reserve squad is also excellent at the moment, if not the strongest in the Premier League at the moment with the B teams. All of Liverpool's opponents, except Chelsea, are short of players when the injury storm hits. Chelsea has a large squad but the quality of the reserve stars cannot be compared to Liverpool. Therefore, the "Red Brigade" is considered very powerful.
"You have to be at your peak every minute. I didn't expect Chelsea to lose points against Everton in this round. That scenario can happen at any time to any team, Liverpool is no exception" - Slot said cautiously.
