LIVERPOOL moved within two points of leaders Arsenal on Sunday with an emphatic 5-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
Lucas replaced the injured Steven Gerrard and stand-in captain Luis Suarez got the visitors on their way on 17 minutes before Jordan Henderson made it 2-0 before the break.
Jon Flanagan added a third with 15 minutes left to play, while Suarez and Raheem Sterling rounded off the scoring on a memorable day for the Reds.
Suarez does it again
Henderson did well to burst into the box before offloading the ball to his teammate, and Suarez made no mistake from close range as he poked the ball past Lloris and into the bottom corner.
Henderson deservedly got his goal
Sterling found Suarez with a perfectly-weighted long ball, who in turn found Henderson. The midfielder saw his initial effort from the edge of the box saved by Lloris before eventually putting in the rebound with a composed finish.
Even Flanno got in on the act
Flangan scored his first goal for the club. The ball fell to the young defender inside the box, and he made no mistake by drilling a fierce shot in off the crossbar before celebrating like he’d just won the Champions League.
Suarez at the double
Luis Alberto nudged the ball through to the striker, who then lifted it delicately over the onrushing Lloris and into the net.
Raheem wraps it up
Suarez dinked the ball through to Sterling and the winger slotted the ball into the net with just Lloris to beat.
Final thoughts
Liverpool fully deserved the three points on Sunday and it could have been a cricket score as the team created numerous chances throughout the game. I must admit before the game I was convinced the team would not have been able to get a positive result considering how previous games have panned out at White Hart Lane. Also I was worried our midfield would have been over run as Spurs’ midfield had strong physical players i.e. Sandro, Paulinho and Dembele.
Paulinho was lucky that Luis was not seriously hurt with his reckless high challenge.
It was a pleasure to watch the Reds play some crisp passing football. The only negative I have to talk about is again Mignolet’s footwork, while the ball is at his feet he looks very nervous which was evident even after just 12 seconds. It is like he is not aware of players around him. Simon was lucky that the referee blew his whistle when Roberto Soldado ‘fouled’ him and put the ball into the empty net. Our goalkeeping coach should be focusing on this in training to try and solve the problem.
I have to single out Jordan Henderson for his performance on Sunday afternoon, he fully deserved his Man of the Match award. For me it was his best game in a red shirt. It looked like the shackles had been taken off and he was able to move freely over the pitch and influence the game.
He had a possession efficiency of 90%. 78 touches of the ball and only lost possession 8 times. Jordan won 62.5% of his duels and had a 100% success with his aerial duels. He passed the ball 63 times, 11.1 percent of these were long passes. He won his 2 tackles and made 1 successful interception. Henderson was rewarded with his performance by scoring and assisting another goal. He also got a second assist (pass that leads to the assist).
Here is the team’s creativity against Spurs
4 – Suarez (2 assists)
3 – Henderson (1 assist)
2 – Sterling
1 – Coutinho, Alberto (assist)
From looking at the creativity it also shows what impact Sterling had on proceedings, especially in the first half he certainly had Kyle Naughton all over the shop.
Interestingly, Joe Allen won 8 tackles for the team, Lucas had a pass accuracy of 94% and Sakho with 96% respectively
Thanks to @ged0407 for this stat starting XI versus Spurs was 24 years 215 days – their youngest in the Premier League since April 2008.
Of course Luis Suarez, has to get a mention due to his two goals, there is no stopping him at the moment.
Suarez Stats
Chances Created: 4
Assists: 2
Shots: 7
On Target: 6
Goals: 2 – Outstanding!
Now the team must focus on Cardiff who visit Anfield this Saturday lunchtime. Bring them on!
Stastistics via @anfieldindex
Follow me on Twitter @MRSSG
LFC play way better without Steven Gerrard.