Liverpool just won 6-3 at Tottenham, thereby maintaining the top spot after round 17 of the Premier League. They have 39 points after 16 matches, 4 points ahead of 2nd-placed Chelsea, but The Blues have played all 17 matches. If they win against Everton in the make-up 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 are those who have gone through ups and downs and glory under Jurgen Klopp. They understand that being at the top of the table before Christmas does not mean much, so they cannot be too happy.
In recent years, when competing for the championship with Man City, 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 in the end. Therefore, Liverpool need to be more persistent.
The caution of Robertson and Van Dijk is reasonable because Liverpool had a 5-1 lead but then gave their opponents dangerous minutes of resistance. With the score at 5-3, Liverpool players began to panic because given Spurs' strong rise, just one more goal before the 90th minute, everything would be very different.
Liverpool have had 24 shots, 12 on target, created 9 big chances and an expected goals (xG) of up to 4.6. Fortunately, these indicators remained firm until the last minutes and helped The Kop win all 3 points.
15 months ago, Liverpool, on their trip to Tottenham's home ground, suffered a defeat in a match that seemed to be "betrayed" by the referee. Luis Diaz's valid goal was denied by VAR, plus red cards from Curtis Jone and Diogo Jota, making Jurgen Klopp and his team regretful. 15 months later, with little change in personnel, Liverpool returned to North London and crushed Tottenham in the true sense.
There were many admirable things for Liverpool from Arne Slot in the recent win. It is not only about speed and accuracy, but also endurance is mentioned a lot. Liverpool kept a quick counter-attack from the first minute to the last minute. The distance between players during the uptrends is always guaranteed. They are calm, confident and maintain an overwhelming attacking position from start to finish. It takes a great physical foundation, combined with endurance to help The Kop maintain such a good position.
A typical example of resilience is Mohamed Salah. Liverpool's "one-season player" played well until his 7th season wearing the red shirt at Anfield. Salah is currently leading the list of top scorers with 15 goals in the Premier League after a double against Tottenham. He is also the first star 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 newcomers and young players, when looking at Salah, could not help but follow that perseverance.
"This was probably our best away performance. It was absolute dominance in terms of the game. Liverpool played much better than Tottenham. The whole team has scored 6 goals and could be more if we take advantage of them" - Arne Slot shared.
The question now is how long Liverpool can keep their top spot after the resounding victory over Tottenham. Fortunately for Slot, the Reds' 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.
