Liverpool look team to beat in title race after thrashing Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur manager Angie Postecoglou quoted a famous line from the film Gladiator after the win over Manchester United: “Aren’t you happy?”
Postkoglu responded to questions about his arrogance after Spurs threatened to concede a 3-0 lead in Thursday’s Carabao Cup quarter-finals before eventually winning 4-3. problem.
The problem is that Postkoglu’s idea of ​​entertainment works both ways – he and Spurs found themselves paying the price after being brutally punished by Liverpool in front of their own supporters.
Liverpool did find Spurs entertaining in their 6-3 victory, but that was far from an accurate reflection of their superiority. It proves why Arne Slott’s side were four points ahead of Chelsea at Christmas and in control of the title race with a game in hand, while Spurs are eight points adrift of fourth in 11th place Bit.
Entertainment has never been an issue for Tottenham under Postkoglu. But when they faced Liverpool’s world-class attacking side, there was an element of physical torture mixed with the joy.
Tottenham have scored 30 goals in their past five games. Interesting indeed, but 10 of those goals came against Postkoglu’s side in back-to-back home league defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool. In the latter case, the only question is why Liverpool only scored six goals but somehow conceded three.
Liverpool’s expected goals total is 4.6, while Tottenham’s is 1.2. According to Opta Stats, Slaughter’s side created nine good chances – a testament to their dominance and to Postkoglu’s defensive weaknesses, which showed little sign of any extra pragmatism in response.
It would be unfair to Postkoglu and Spurs not to point out that he missed out on first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and centre-backs Christian Romero and Mickey van de Veen. For a team with such an open style, these guys are big absentees, especially Van de Veen, whose speed is crucial to the high line favored by Postkoglu.
Spurs are stretched thin in terms of numbers, meaning Postkoglu’s squad remains unchanged from Thursday’s game against Manchester United.
However, Liverpool have no such problem, with 12 wins and 3 draws in 16 league games this season. Their goal difference is also the highest at +21.
