Liverpool 4 Tottenham 2: tactical analysis

In Jürgen Klopp’s penultimate home game as manager, Liverpool dealt Tottenham’s fading top-four hopes a blow by rediscovering their scoring touch. In truth, the two-goal difference belied how dominant the Reds were for long spells. As with their previous outing in the north London derby, Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs looked likely to be thrashed, only to fight back late on. As with their defeat to Arsenal, though, it was too little, too late.

Like the Liverpool team as a whole, Mohamed Salah put his recent indifferent form behind him to register his best display for months, scoring the first with a far-post header. Klopp’s side deservedly doubled their lead when Andy Robertson tapped home just before half-time. In the second half, player of the match Harvey Elliott put his stamp on proceedings, winning possession before crossing for Cody Gakpo to head the third, and then scoring the fourth with a stunning strike.

Shortly after, Postecoglou made a triple substitution, including the introduction of Richarlison, who threatened to turn the game on its head. The Brazilian scored and assisted Son Heung-min, but it ended as a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat for Spurs – their worst run since 2004. And while Alisson Becker rued Liverpool’s failure to keep a clean sheet, for the visitors there have been only two clean sheets in their last 26 league games.

How the managers saw it

“You are 4-0 up, play a really good game and we lost a bit of organisation,” said Klopp. “That's now human, it’s not great but it’s human. We were outstanding until we were not good, until we were alright again, and then in that moment then we could obviously score the fifth and sixth, didn’t do that, but that’s all fine.”

“Obviously, when you are losing 4-0, it’s bizarre to say it, but I thought we had a good foothold in the game,” said Postecoglou. “Just in the front third, we really lacked any sort of real bite and conviction. When that happens, that allows the opposition, allowed Liverpool, to get comfortable, whereas if we’d created a couple of good chances with our good general play, it may have put them under a bit more pressure. The flip side of that is that their front third was dangerous when they got into our box.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have dug deeper into the key tactical points from the game at Anfield…

Liverpool’s ruthless wide attacks

Klopp set Liverpool up in their usual 4-3-3 shape, and they looked to utilise the wide areas from the start. Gakpo rotated out to the left from his starting position as the number nine, with Luis Díaz moving inside and Robertson supporting from left-back.

They then worked the ball from left to right, looking for Salah to exploit Tottenham’s potential weak spot in makeshift left-back Emerson Royal. Gakpo’s ability to cut inside from the left (below) allowed him to link with both Díaz and Salah with deft through balls or, in the case of the opening goal, an inswinging cross to the far post.

Liverpool enjoyed so much success on the left, with Díaz and Gakpo continuing to swap roles, that one of the number eights and even the pivot, Wataru Endo, drifted across in support (below). This drew Spurs to this flank even more, which created space on the right for Salah to continue attacking inside against Emerson Royal. Trent Alexander-Arnold could then move forward into wide-open spaces to supply crosses from the right. When Liverpool couldn’t work the ball through midfield, they worked the switch from left to right through Virgil van Dijk.

The hosts continued to focus on the wide areas in the second half, with their right side now in total control of the spaces around Emerson Royal. Elliott made penetrative inside-channel runs to exploit the space in behind the Tottenham right-back, who was often drawn out of the back line to engage with Salah, while Alexander-Arnold supported underneath to help link with his two teammates on that side. With Gakpo and Díaz rotating still more on the left, Liverpool sometimes lacked support in central attacking areas. This freed centre-back Micky van de Ven to track and cover Elliott’s runs (below), meaning Liverpool had to rely on 1v1 dominance to penetrate.

Once the hosts were able to provide this central support, usually through Díaz, they totally dominated their struggling visitors. The wide trios on either side of the pitch worked to exploit the space around and behind the Tottenham back line, and Emerson Royal was so ruthlessly targeted that Postecoglou was forced to replace him with midfielder Oliver Skipp midway through the second half. Díaz now occupied the near-side centre-back (below), leaving Salah free to attack 1v1 without any extra interference. The Liverpool right proved way too hot for Spurs to handle; attacks from that side provided the chances from which Gakpo and Elliott added the third and fourth goals.

Liverpool’s effective narrow block

Tottenham had actually started the game on the front foot, dominating the ball and locking Liverpool into their own half. Both full-backs, Emerson Royal and Pedro Porro, narrowed early, as the visitors tried to overload the hosts’ midfield trio. The two centre-backs supported underneath, while wingers Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski held the width (below), looking to isolate and attack against Liverpool’s full-backs. Spurs enjoyed more possession and inhabited plenty of attacking territory, but their limited output in the final third meant they managed only one shot in the entire first half – and that came in the third minute.

What Liverpool did particularly well was to cover and block the central spaces. The midfield three flattened when defending (below), but also remained extremely close and compact. Spurs then struggled to find Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur between the lines. The full-backs were followed by Liverpool’s wingers, so any inwards movement from either simply resulted in more Liverpool defenders inside. The hosts then picked their moments to individually jump on to Bissouma, as Spurs struggled to find anything at all to show for their possession.

Tottenham’s late surge

To their credit, Spurs finished strongly. Son Heung-min moved to play wide on the left, with Johnson on the right; substitute James Maddison then operated as the number 10, in support of fellow replacement Richarlison. From here, the visitors kept their full-backs wider for longer – especially on the side of the ball, where they were able to combine and release their wingers with much more purpose (below). Johnson penetrated well in behind Joe Gomez, who had replaced Robertson at left-back, while Son’s dribbling gave Alexander-Arnold a new and significant problem. Maddison’s dropping helped link into the Spurs full-backs, with the visitors creating much more purposeful attacks as a result.

They also recognised better, in the second half, when to penetrate and play in behind, and not always rely on central combinations and short passes. Whenever one of the full-backs did move into central midfield, as they had in the first half, one of the midfielders – Bissouma in the example below – dropped out to enable a wide connection with Johnson or Son.

The central midfield then readjusted, as Spurs worked their wingers into the final third with much more frequency. This led to more dangerous attacking moments and two late goals, but the reality is that they had left themselves way too much to do. Tottenham have now lost four league games in a row, and look second favourites for that all-important fourth place.

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