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Liverpool have proven to be the irresistible force of the Premier League over the last 18 months, and we are about to find out if Tottenham Hotspur can become the immovable object at the top of the table this season.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp put it slightly differently in his Tuesday press conference, calling Spurs a “results machine,” referring to his counterpart Jose Mourinho replacing style with functionality when Tottenham come to Anfield as unlikely leaders of the League with 12 games played. Wednesday’s match between first and second, separated only by goal difference, raises the toughest question yet of Mourinho’s rebirth, but it could also serve as a referendum on whether last season’s flaggers can repeat something like the form that secured Liverpool’s first summit. -Flight title in 30 years.
The Reds have had more vulnerabilities this season, something Klopp has repeatedly attributed to the punishment schedule created by a condensed season resulting from COVID-19. Rarely does one miss an opportunity to hit Liverpool – Mourinho’s animosity dates back to a fierce rivalry created during his first stint as Chelsea manager between 2004 and 2007 – the Spurs head coach dismissed comments that the Klopp’s options were severely weakened by injury.
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Putting aside the knee ligament injury that essentially ended Virgil van Dijk’s season, Klopp can call up the vast majority of his senior players midweek; Mourinho chose rather mischievously to highlight that during his pre-match press conference by effectively naming 10 of the players he expects to start Wednesday’s match, including the legendary Liverpool versus three: Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. It also sought to underline the different deadlines that the two managers have had to implement their respective methodologies, comparing the 1,894 days that Klopp has been in charge with his own 390 “false days”, labeled as “false” due to the interruption caused by COVID . 19.
Spurs have secured seven points from three games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, but it would be another matter entirely if they attacked last season’s most devastating attack and put an end to Liverpool’s unbeaten record at home in the League, which dates back to April 2017.
Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son are delivering devastating numbers in 2020. They have already combined for 12 league goals this season, half the Spurs’ total, and offer a cutting edge to supplement defensive stamina that has not been reported. the basis of such a promising start. Mourinho has tried to downplay Tottenham’s title chances, but that will be extremely difficult to achieve if they can beat Liverpool, who in turn must rediscover their high-octane best to break away from the chasing group.
Mourinho, in the foreground, hopes to break Liverpool’s dominant streak at Anfield on Wednesday. Not only would it end a streak that began in 2017, but it would cement Tottenham as the team to beat in the title race. Tottenham Hotspur FC / Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Mourinho rarely feels the weight of history on his shoulders, preferring instead to perceive each encounter as an “isolated event” rather than an accumulation of past experiences that can influence the present. That’s probably just as good in the context of Tottenham’s record at Anfield, having won just twice there in 27 years of Premier League football. In fact, the Spurs once went 73 years without beating Liverpool on their own turf between 1912 and 1985, a bizarre streak that began the same year the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean.
That historical quirk led to many awkward comparisons between the sunken ship and the Spurs, prompting former boss Peter Shreeves to label the task of winning at Anfield as “another chance to re-float the Titanic” before finally ending his voodoo in March. 1985. Some proclaimed title favorites that year after beating the Reds, and although 35 years later it would not deserve the same reaction, improving Tottenham’s record on the road against the best clubs is one of the last remaining obstacles for Mourinho to turn them into true contenders.
Despite all the applause Mauricio Pochettino received during five years of almost uncontrolled progress before his dismissal last November, Tottenham fell short at the homes of their main rivals. In 28 away games against the “Big Six” (Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal), Pochettino’s record read: he won three, drew nine, lost 16. It was one of the main reasons why the Spurs failed to crown his half decade at the helm with a trophy to showcase all the smiles he created, hinting at a fragile mindset that Mourinho quickly identified as a palpable weakness.
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Mourinho’s mission to change that overall fragility has led him to take a more pragmatic approach to big games, even if his only victory as Tottenham head coach in four attempts outside the Big Six was in a 6- demotion. 1 for United in October. The Spurs have been more conservative since then, not registering a single shot. of any type in the second half of a severe goalless draw at Chelsea last month, but Klopp was quick to dispel the notion that Mourinho’s comeback is due solely to his precision in parking the bus.
“The style of play, I see a lot of similarities with us to be honest in the way they set it up, in the way they built it,” Klopp said. “They play soccer, actually. You’re right: they don’t mind. [about criticism for] sit on top of that, defend the result and go for the counterattacks, but that’s not Tottenham’s only strength. That is probably if you only read the newspapers about Tottenham games, that might be your impression, but if you look at their games you will see that they have a proper football side and play real football.
“You see how Kane probably falls down somehow [Roberto] Firmino did, then the two extreme rapids to the right and left. Defending Kane in these areas is really difficult, so a very offensive midfielder, like a 10 second if you want, with [Tanguy] Ndombele or [Giovani] Lo Celso, then two physically strong midfielders but also strong in football.
“That’s football, what they play, not just counterattacking. You can’t be the best in the league just counterattacking. I only see what I see and what I see is sadly pretty good.”
Similarly, Mourinho tried to paint Tottenham as risky by highlighting the push they made for a winning goal in the final 10 minutes against Crystal Palace last Sunday, ignoring the fact that they sat down after taking the lead and looked too much happy to see the goal. game before Jeffrey Schlupp scored to force the Spurs out of their shell. The level of ambition that Mourinho encourages his Tottenham players to display will likely dictate the level of entertainment we will have at Anfield, unless Liverpool can rediscover the scorching spells of football that no other team could live with last season.
“Everybody fights there because nobody wins there,” Mourinho said. “Even other clubs with good records at Anfield are struggling to get good results [recently]. It is true that we achieved good results against the best teams, but that does not mean much. It is a game in which we do not change our philosophy. We want to win “.
Liverpool are unbeaten in 65 league games at home, recording 54 victories and losing just 22 points out of 192 available. Since January 2019, they have lost four points in their last 40 games at Anfield. It’s a staggering reminder of their impressive longevity, and also why there’s merit in the view that injuries and fatigue pose the greatest threat to Liverpool retaining their crown. The way Mourinho would like to show Tottenham should be something else for Klopp to worry about.
Source: espn.co.uk
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