Well it’s been a couple of dull weeks without the premier league to follow. Back to my usual lack of interest watching England or any international football, I at least had more time to do stuff rather than sit looking at click-bait headlines to read shit about nothing, because somehow Liverpool were involved.
Before the break, Liverpool played Leicester and I predicted a 2-0 scoreline, my first actual attempt at writing down a score for Liverpool, which I never do. It turns out my prediction wasn’t far off. Liverpool would have been 2-0 winners but for the crazy antics of one Alisson Becker. When I wrote about the game vs Brighton I wrote…
“Alisson too in this match showed the fans what he can do with the ball at his feet, at one point chipping over a player and playing a pass like he was Messi. There was a heart in mouth moment later in the game that had many fans and pundits thinking Bruce Grobbelaar was back in the nets.”
Against Leicester he took it too far, and managed to gift a goal which made the game harder than it should have been. Without that, I’m not sure they’d have scored despite their pressure and general good play at times. Liverpool this season seem to be showing us they can win without having to score more than 3 goals. Selection wise, Keita was the man to make way for Henderson, Klopp opting for a solid midfield which wouldn’t get overwhelmed by the Leicester team.
Sadio Mane, as I predicted early on this season, continued his good form with the opening goal, and it was nice to see Firmino get on the score sheet. People who need news to write about try to pick apart Liverpool’s play so far this season, but the front three have now all scored, and they were never going to start off like last season ended – momentum takes time, right.
Another positive takeaway from this match was Joe Gomez having another solid performance alongside Van Dijk. Man of the match for many, he has great timing, ability to play with the ball at his feet, speed, he can head the ball too, and it seems that he is the main man benefitting from the throw in coach right now. An England call up beckoned and he showed why.
The next game up is against Tottenham Hotspur, the next latest most difficult game ahead of a ‘season defining period’ of fixtures. Tottenham is followed by a visit in the Champions League by Neymar led PSG, then after an ‘easier’ game against Southampton, there is Chelsea, Chelsea, Napoli and Man City. So for all the talk of Liverpool’s perfect start, it could all easily come crashing down in the next 3 weeks.
Last season at Spurs Liverpool suffered a pretty shocking defeat, which was the second bad result following the earlier Man City loss. Off the back of a 7-0 victory Liverpool were humbled, with Dejan Lovren culpable for two goals and getting hooked ‘due to an injury’. Kane has scored his August goal but some are saying he’s not quite as on form, while Son comes back from the Asia cup a gold medal winner. Harry Kane is always a threat I think and I dismiss any thoughts of him not being likely to get on the scoresheet.
An additional threat to Liverpool from this game will be the fact that last time out, Spurs lost against Watford despite being 1-0 up for most of the game. Pochettino is a great manager in my opinion, and it’s a shame for him and Tottenham he’s managing in a period of football where oodles of money for all the clubs and some of the worlds greatest managers – of all time – are managing at the same time in direct competition. This is the same problem Klopp has at Liverpool, who is also overcoming massive history and expectation in the most competitive league for a while.
Tottenham this year raised many eyebrows because they never made a single signing in the summer. With a team like there’s its not an issue in general, although keeping a little player turnover is always a good thing to keep everything fresh. Their stadium has been delayed, causing frustration to many fans and the club themselves. And as well as their injuries, their start keeper Loris (conveniently injured at this point) has been caught drink driving. These sort of things causes a ripple of negativity which does not help the club achieve its on-field objectives. Liverpool have been through many of these things over the years and I’ve seen what happens to the match results. Off field distractions cause on field losses, or at least turn wins into draws. When Liverpool fans organised a walkout a few years ago, a 2-0 lead became a 2-2 draw.
The big question for any Liverpool fan is what will happen in this early kick off. Will Liverpool crumble like last season, or will the team continue to show its mettle and come away with a result? This time around we go to Wembley from a position of strength. We are top of the league on goal difference, while Spurs have a few injury niggles to worry about, no Deli Ali the biggest boost, from a Liverpool point of view. We have a pretty much full squad to choose from, albeit the Brazilian trio only got back on Thursday. The next three weeks will see the squad tested for it’s robustness, and it is likely that the three main subs, Shaqiri alongside Sturridge and Fabhino, will all do their bit.
I’m not sure it’ll be a goal-fest, with Liverpool looking much more solid as unit, and Tottenham also a generally solid team looking to ensure they don’t wobble like they did against Watford. A loss today would be pretty disruptive to their hopes for a tilt at the title, but not a season ender. Liverpool could probably ‘afford’ a loss without too much at stake, but it would definitely not be the best way to start their critical three weeks of matches. I have a little nagging feeling Liverpool could come away with a victory, and if they do it could end up being a goal-fest after all, but I think a draw is a quite likely outcome.
