Liverpool's victory over Tottenham signals renewed confidence

In Sunday's matchup against Tottenham, Liverpool regained its strength after swallowing a tough loss and draw to Everton and West Ham respectively.

Despite officially being ruled out from the title race, Liverpool seemed to find its rhythm on offense after netting four goals in the first 60 minutes.

This victory can be regarded as a huge one, revamping the whole team’s confidence to wrap up the season.

“We spoke before the game about it that for high-performance sports, you need to be motivated. Actually, three points should be enough but it's not always. For the boys, it was today, I loved that,” Jurgen Klopp said in the postgame press conference.

Klopp also appreciated the way that his players performed on the pitch. With that being said, let’s dive into what was the change throughout my observation of the match.

Strong Finish

Since the poor finish disturbed the team late in this season, Liverpool impressively progressed in orchestrating the play.

With Wataru Endo delivering a long pass from the middle, Cody Gakpo collected the ball on the left flank, and then penetrated through the box vertically, which the defense never saw coming.

His height helped for his vision seeing Mo Salah’s arm up as a sign for the ball, contributing to a later finish.

As many teams have started to crowd the box in order to prevent conceding from the counterattacks, Liverpool would have to need more easy finishes like this. 

Since Salah somehow played the role of offensive initiator or facilitator on the right, he was often targeted by the opponent who tried to narrow the space.

But this time, he had his back-up to step out. Retrieving the ball by Harvey Elliot, Alex Mac Allister‘s through pass in a flash found its way to Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right of the box.

The former then found Andrew Robertson in front of the goal with a lob pass, Robertson, with two Spurs defenders blocking the way, chose to pass back to Salah who had a better spot to shoot. He then finished the follow-up shot that Salah missed.

Compared to previous matches, Liverpool only accounted for 46% possession throughout the match. It was a rare representation for the team since the FA Cup win over Arsenal (46%) on January 7 this year.

But the team produced a 3.3 xG, converting 4 goals by 12 shots on target. This phenomenon showcases Liverpool’s adaptability to take down the opponent in less-possession matches.

Meanwhile, Liverpool won in the aerial 8-4 to Spurs, even came with a goal from the advantage. After three minutes of the second-half kickoff, Salah tried to press Emerson Royal on the right wing.

But Royal didn't recognize Elliott sprinting to him on the other side, who then stole the ball successfully to activate another attack. Elliott weaved and drilled a lob to Gakpo with enough space, Gakpo beat Cristian Romero in the air and headed the ball to the left corner of the net.

Other than sticking around with its intensely proud counterattacks, Liverpool showed its creativity by its prosperous young talent.

Elliott, again, stepped up adding one more for Liverpool's triumph. Assisted by Salah on the right, he cut vertically to the middle and blasted out a 24-yard shot to the upper left of the net. The goal demonstrated the astonishing individual ability of Elliott, who already had 13 goal contributions throughout the season.

“Harvey is exceptional. [He is] still so young, so exceptional,” Klopp said. “I really like the way the boys played, I liked the individual performances, how we played together.”

For now, the players should keep lifting their heads up for their last two Premier League matches with more confidence.

Not just giving their best for their beloved manager’s farewell, but also leaving hopes for Liverpool's future under the tenure of upcoming new coach Arne Slot. It’s too early to say a downfall is coming, especially considering that they already reached the berth for the Champion League next season.