Victorious Liverpool in North London

 

Liverpool are one of the most badly affected sides in this season – ravaged by injuries and in every match, they found it tough to surface the final XI. Their backline is missing the major players, while the nuclei at the center of the park are facing the same fate. Jurgen Klopp just could not manage to dish out fresh ideas every match; rather he had to spend enough time in managing the ideal XI.

It resulted in a lean-patch. The arch-rivals Manchester United left them sad while Burnley breached their fortress – Anfield. Klopp and his men were needed to respond as quickly as possible so that they remain in the race to defend their Premier League title.

In North London, the Reds showed that the machine might show signs of decay, but it is still working and under pressure, they work even better.

Thiago Alcantara and Gini Wijnaldum ran the show in the midfield and the way Alcantara showed his dedication with a bandage rolled around his forehead, it hinted the intention of the Reds – they are not interested to prolong the lean-patch and bounce back with a dominating victory. While the 35-year-old James Milner put in yet another performance when his team needed the most.  

Liverpool lost Fabinho courtesy of a minor muscle issue before a ball was even kicked. Thankfully, Joel Matip was back and looked extremely good in the first half despite being half-fit and gave his place to Nathaniel Phillips and fitted well alongside the skipper Jordan Henderson.

Till now, Liverpool have used 16 different center-back partnerships this season – three of their major center-backs are injured and so is their back up and for which they need to sign a center-back before Monday’s deadline.

They have played 20 Premier League games and started with 11 different combinations.

Still, the Red machine is functioning.

Sadio Mane set the tone in the second minute by cutting through the Tottenham Hotspur backline and he was clean through on Hugo Lloris’ goal – the finish was sliced and wasteful.

Harry Kane sent Son Heung-min in on goal and he finished past Alisson, who was slow to get down. The move was sparked by Tanguy Ndombele racing away from Thiago and finding Son but VAR spotted an offside against the Son at the point before he laid off to Kane.

Ndombele showcased a lovely touch and his trademark spin and burst move, although his influence would fade. Then Steven Bergwijn played in Son in the 21st minute. He was denied by Alisson.

At the other end, Mane extended Lloris after a Mohamed Salah flick, although he had looked offside earlier in the buildup, while he was denied by a last-ditch Rodon challenge and another Lloris save.

The fast, high-quality, and eventful first half entered into stoppage time and Liverpool found the way to break the deadlock.

Mane got in and around the back onto a Henderson pass at which Eric Dier felt Lloris coming for the ball and hesitated and so then did the goalkeeper. Firmino gobbled up the tap-in.

It was the first goal for Firmino in the Premier league in 486 minutes, and his fifth in six games against Spurs.  

Kane was caught early on by a slide tackle from Alcantara – he got his right foot stuck under the boot of Alcantara and appeared to roll it – while he would land awkwardly on the other ankle in the 34th minute. On both occasions, he played on after treatment but the alarm bells rang for Spurs when he did not reappear for the second half.

Mourinho tried both three and four at the back, although neither system could legislate for the individual errors that played a part in each Liverpool goal.

Salah had already fired high when Lloris patted a tame Mane shot into Trent Alexander-Arnold’s path and he ripped a drive into the bottom corner – a weak parry from Lloris indeed!

Mourinho had preferred Joe Rodon to Toby Alderweireld, having seen the value in the 23-year-old’s greater pace, but things did not o according to the plan – the body shape awent wrong when attempting to deal with an Alexander-Arnold cross. He failed to clear and Mane punished him with an instinctive half-volley. The strange thing was that prior to this game, the Spurs had conceded only five league goals in open play all season.

The Spurs could hardly have the Reds on the rope except for the goal of Højbjerg.

Liverpool beat the Spurs again and this time it was in North London.

After the determined and composed display last night one can start saying that the Reds are back – hungry for more and eager to win every match.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 29/01/2021 Victorious Liverpool in North London  

Thank You

Faisal Caesar