LIVERPOOL ARE SO LETHAL
Klopp’s machine show they are the real deal as Tottenham are blitzed
HARRY KANE is tired, people are saying. Spurs are tired, people are saying.
Liverpool, though, are not tired. They are playing like a team that wants to make up for lost time. They are playing like a team possessed, a team that wants to chase its ghosts away, a team that has not won the league for 28 years and desperately, furiously, does not want it to become 29.
Last season at Wembley, Spurs overwhelmed them 4-1. It was a result that exposed Liverpool’s limitations.
This time, Jurgen Klopp’s team overwhelmed Spurs. They overwhelmed them with class, conviction, energy and desire. The scoreline may not sound as if it were an emphatic performance, but that does not tell the story of the game.
The murmurs of dismay that spread through the home crowd whenever Liverpool broke with the kind of speed and intent that spreads terror among opposing defences told the story of the game.
The way they made a good Spurs team look sloppy for most of the 90 minutes was the story of the game. The truth was that Klopp’s side were in a different class.
They have five wins from their first five games now, their best start since the 1990-91 campaign and this victory more than any of the rest was a sign they are the real deal.
That is not to say they will win the title this season, but it looks likely their challenge will test any team that aspires to finish above them to the very limit.
‘I am not the kind of personality to wait for problems,’ Klopp said after the match, when he was asked about the eye injury that forced Roberto Firmino off the pitch and how he thought his team would react when they had to cope with key absences.
‘But I am old enough to know they will come. No one plays a perfect season.’
For the moment, at least, Liverpool look formidable. Their investment in goalkeeper Alisson and centre-half Virgil van Dijk has made a huge difference to their confidence.
Their strength has always been their attack but they had an Achilles’ heel and other teams knew it. Now they are armour-plated in defence. They are no longer a soft touch at the back.
They have set this pace without their talisman of last season, Mo Salah, playing at his peak yet.
Klopp lavished praised on his players. ‘This was by far our best performance of the season, so I like this kind of development,’ said the manager. ‘Spurs are such a good side that if we had played five-percent less, we would have lost.’
Those who have revelled in Anfield’s long title drought must be starting to get a little worried.
Manchester City will take some beating in the race for the title and Chelsea are looking impressive — but every game Liverpool have played this season has been a statement of intent. This time, they don’t look like a team that will fade away. Without the injured Dele Alli, Spurs seemed to lack conviction going forward. Without the injured, repentant Hugo Lloris, they lacked their usual certainty at the back. Eric Dier looked uneasy on the right side of a midfield three and Liverpool seized the initiative from the start.
They thought they had scored in the first minute when Firmino got a slight touch to a cross and it eluded Michel Vorm, but Sadio Mane had also tried to prod it in from an offside position. He didn’t touch the ball, but the attempt was ruled out because of his involvement.
Spurs were too careless too often and six minutes before half-time, Liverpool scored the goal that their conviction deserved.
It came from a set-piece. James Milner curled in a corner and Spurs’ normally excellent defending deserted them.
Vorm tried to punch the corner clear but he was distracted by the presence of Van Dijk and failed to make proper contact.
Dier headed the ball away, but his clearance lacked power and Gigi Wijnaldum rose to nod the ball over Kieran Trippier. Vorm flung himself at the ball to push it out with both hands but referee Michael Oliver signalled immediately that goal-line technology had ruled Wijnaldum’s header would stand.
It was the Dutchman’s first away goal in the Premier League and he sniffed a second a minute later when he found himself in space on the edge of the Spurs six-yard box.
Mane and Firmino lurked in the middle but Wijnaldum shot himself and dragged his effort across goal.
The Spurs fans were was dismayed by Liverpool’s superiority. They desperately needed encouragement. And hope finally came when Lucas Moura spun away from Joe Gomez and drilled a low shot against the foot of Alisson’s right-hand post.
Liverpool, however, had just too
many ways in which to hurt Spurs. Trippier was caught out of position, Mane broke free down the left and his pace took him to the byeline.
Jan Vertonghen stretched to intercept his cross but could only deflect it on to the post. The ball bounced across goal and squirmed agonisingly through Vorm’s hands as he lay on the ground. Firmino reacted quickest and lashed his shot into the net.
The visitors should have gone three ahead midway through the second half when Mane led a rapid counter-attack. With Naby Keita free to his left and Salah free to his right, Mane chose Keita, who hit his shot too close to Vorm. Klopp showed his irritation on the touchline.
His anger at his team’s profligacy increased when substitute Erik Lamela took advantage of sloppy Liverpool defending to control the ball at the back post, then volley it past Alisson.
A late scare, but Klopp and his team march on.