Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s Victory Over Tottenham

With a gutsy win over Tottenham in the books, we dig a little
deeper into what it means for Liverpool.

Liverpool beating Jose Mourinho is a cathartic experience.
That’s what we got to experience as Jurgen Klopp and his Reds
grafted their way to a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. It’s never going to be pretty when
Mourinho shows up at Anfield, and it certainly wasn’t today, but
Liverpool dug deep to find victory.

If you paused the game at the 83rd minute and asked me who I
wanted to score the winner, I wouldn’t have hesitated. It’s Bobby
Firmino, for me. The man means so much to how we play and his goal
tally is what it is, but for this game I’d pick him. And thankfully
Santa rewarded me with my Christmas wish. His header was perfect
and it came just in time. I love a 90th minute winner.

This felt like the first really big match of the season. Maybe
it had to do with fans in the stadium. Maybe it’s because it’s
December and things are piling up, but first vs second truly felt
that way. But this game felt massive and winning it even more so.
Let’s dig deeper into Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham.

Dissecting the Narrative

Curtis Jones has made the jump

We have to talk about what a player we have on our hands here.
Curtis Jones is only 19 years old, and there’s been plenty of
players of Liverpool past that have shown flashes, but Jones seems
to have officially arrived. He was the best player on the pitch
tonight and when the team looked lost for ideas, it was his
fearlessness that drove the team forward. Stats never tell the full
story, but I think looking at what Curtis did this evening.

• 94% Pass accuracy (106/113)
• 2/3 Accurate long passes
• 2 Chances created
• 1/3 Shots on target
• 4/5 Aerial duels won
• 4 Interceptions

That win in context

Every single season we talk about the December fixtures and how
brutal they’ll be for everyone. That’s objectively true in normal
seasons, and what Liverpool has been able to under Klopp during the
last few Decembers has been nothing short of incredible.

This December, though, is a whole different beast. As Noel noted on Twitter

This isn’t just a Liverpool problem. Every elite team is
struggling. We saw what we saw during the Manchester Derby over the
weekend. Liverpool looked horrendous on Sunday against Fulham.
Chelsea looked awful yesterday and well, City….I don’t even want to
begin with their problems.

This win over the top of the table Tottenham was very, very huge
for Liverpool.

Jose’s delicious tears

If you’ve followed football for a long time or for just a little
while, you’ll know that Jose Mourinho is persona non grata
in the Premier League. He’s a truly horrendous individual and maybe
one day he’ll find peace with his higher power. Today is not that
day and I’m truly grateful in his misery. His team completed 61% of
their pass attempts. They had 24% of the match’s possession. They
had no interest in playing actual football and got punished for it.
Get stuffed, Jose.

Bonus: Here is Mourinho’s face when Liverpool scored the late
winner.

What Happens Next

So, as it goes with this season, Liverpool kick-off their next
match about 14 minutes after you close out of this article. Just
kidding. They have to kick off at half noon Saturday morning
against Crystal Palace, who is still being managed by Roy Hodgson.
Talk about a game that won’t be pretty. However it may shake out
Liverpool must find a way to three points.