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Sky seemed to be the limit for Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur side when they annihilated Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford. In the very next fixture though, they were given a reality check on what complacency can do when Watford came back from behind to beat them 2-1 at Vicarage Road.
This definitely seems to be their year as far as Liverpool are concerned. Jurgen Klopp's men had thus far maintained a perfect record in this season which saw them atop the Premier League table. But this game was going to be their first real test of the season and also the beginning of a 7-game span that would see the Anfield outfit take on the likes of PSG, Chelsea (twice), Napoli and Manchester City too in a span of 3 weeks.
Needless to say, both teams needed a win at the Wembley tonight. Going by the flow of play, Liverpool deservingly opened the scoring through Georginio Wijnaldum in the 39th minute as his header saved by Michel Vorm was deemed to have crossed the line by the goal-line technology.
A take on from Sadio Mane early on in the second half saw Kieran Trippier reeling as the former's cross into the box was almost tapped into his own net by a stretching Jan Vertonghen. The Belgian's attempt ricocheted off the upright and fell kindly in the path of Roberto Firmino who did the rest.
Christian Eriksen's cross in injury time reached Erik Lamela at the far post after a few bounces who first chested the ball and then thumped in a sumptuous volley to open Spurs' account. Liverpool then saw out the remaining time to win the game 2-1.
Let us look at the five talking points from the game:
#1 Conservative and shaky start for Tottenham in the first half
After the jolt they received at the hands of Javi Gracia's Watford, it was imperative that Spurs would start the game against Liverpool in a conservative manner. Their risk-free outlook was very much visible when the North London side defended with numbers behind the ball in the early minutes of the game, the approach catalyzed by Sadio Mane's disallowed goal in the very first minute of the game.
But this didn't mean the chances didn't come for the Reds. Mohamed Salah and co. attacked with intent which exposed the back four of the home side quite often. Poor midfield shape and a string of misconstrued passes also helped Liverpool's cause. Eric Dier was spared the blushes after his poor back pass was pounced upon by a prying Salah but his attempt was fended off by stand-in goalkeeper Michel Vorm.
The Lilywhites gave a lot of respect to their opponent's counter-attacking skills and never committed wholly while going forward in the first half hour of the game. As a result, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura or Christian Eriksen were always found outnumbered in the attacking third of the pitch.
As a result, when the Spurs did commit numbers forward in the last 15 minutes of the game, they were always caught on the counter by the prancing trio of Mane, Firmino and Salah. Thankfully for Pochettino's side, the Liverpool attack was quite wasteful too. In the end though, Liverpool did finally score through Gini Wijnaldum.
Up till this point in the game, Tottenham had not tested Alisson properly yet and did not look convincing enough on defence. In a nutshell, Spurs were playing the catch-up game throughout the first half of this fixture. The same theme was followed in the second half as well to set up Liverpool's fifth win in as many games in the Premier League this season.
#2 Spurs missed the services of Dele Alli as their midfield disappointed
It was announced yesterday that both Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli would be missing the encounter against Liverpool. While Michel Vorm did do a respectable job between the posts for Spurs, the home side surely missed the attacking qualities of the 22-year-old England International.
Alli was replaced by a returning Harry Winks - who hadn't started a Premier League game since the defeat to Manchester City in December last year - as Spurs played a diamond formation. Mousa Dembele sat deep, Winks and Eric Dier slotted either side of him in the midfield, and Christian Eriksen played on top.
Barring the Dane, the other three had forgettable displays. Winks' absence from first-team action was evident as he was very average in every aspect of his play. His passes didn't have bite, he didn't defend well, and was very uncomfortable in possession.
We have already talked about how Dier almost gifted Liverpool a goal with a poor back pass. Dembele was also unable to stamp his authority as the Reds clearly won the midfield battle. The chemistry among the Tottenham central midfielders, especially with Kane and Moura, was lacking. In such a game, Tottenham could clearly do well with an attack-minded midfielder such as Alli.
#3 Does Liverpool have the best defence in the league?
Liverpool failed to keep a clean sheet today. But if stats are to be considered, then Liverpool indeed have considered the least number of goals in the Premier League so far. Does that outrightly mean that they have the best defence in the league right now? Here's a piece of stat before the beginning of the game which seems to validate this claim:
Well, given the nature of teams that they have played, it is still better to refrain from making this assumption. But what will really strike your mind - in case you have followed the Merseysiders up close this season - is how comfortably Liverpool hit teams on the counter, commit numbers forward, yet when they are hit back, they seem to have things under control.
Van Dijk's assuredness at the back has surely helped the cause of Jurgen Klopp and Co. Joe Gomez has been consistently good as well. Trent Alexander-Arnold has looked a tad underwhelming at times but is yet to commit any blatant mistakes. And the Premier League table-toppers are yet to field "one of the best defenders in the world" by his own admission, Dejan Lovren.
In addition to that, the fact that Roberto Firmino today attempted to contain a Spurs attack by tracking back as far as the left side of the defensive third of the Reds signifies just how almost every Liverpool player puts in a shift defensively. The result of all this? Alisson Becker has remained largely untested throughout the five games the Reds have played in the league so far this season.
Liverpool will surely have more testing ties in the future but the way they have started, their defensive troubles from last season seems to have been sorted out.
#4 Danny Rose delivers one of his worst outings in a Spurs shirt
Unarguably the worst player on the pitch, Danny Rose had a day to forget at the Wembley on Saturday afternoon. Not only was he responsible for allowing acres of space of the left side of Tottenham's defence, he was absolutely sloppy in possession.
Mohamed Salah undoubtedly has not hit the same vein of form from last season and tonight was a clear example of that as the Egyptian started the game rather slowly. But Rose's poor showing allowed last year's Golden Boot winner to slowly grow into the game and link up with other teammates well.
Salah was bang on average when trying to conjure something with the Spurs' defence at the back of his heels. But when it came to breakaway plays, Rose's poor marking of the former Roma man allowed him to remain a constant threat throughout the length of the game. Rose was not of much help on offence either as his crosses were barely lethal and his passes would often find a red shirt instead of a white one.
You simply cannot blame Pochettino for selecting Rose ahead of Ben Davies for this tie; the England International had a fantastic outing in England's 1-0 win in the friendly against Switzerland three days ago. But it goes without saying that Rose needs to pull up his socks soon enough.
#5 Can Jurgen Klopp and Co. keep up the momentum?
This is not the first time in recent years when Liverpool have started well. They have always played an exciting brand of football under Jurgen Klopp. They have always had a ferocious attack under the German's tutelage. But they have always had several chinks in their armour in the last two seasons. Be it an inconsistent back four, a sloppy goalkeeper or sub-par quality in central midfield, there were a lot of "what ifs" associated with the Merseysiders in the past.
This summer, they spent big to fill all the gaping voids and seem to have done so efficiently. The midfielders are ably supporting both attack and defence, Van Dijk and Co. are maintaining shape at the back, Alisson is icy cool between the sticks, and the famed attacking trio is delivering. Nothing seems to be going wrong for the Reds at the moment.
But we need to sit back and ask Jurgen Klopp's side the same question which did the rounds when Manchester City were running the league ragged last season. "Can they keep it up?"
Given the way things have panned out so far, they just might. Liverpool might have a slew of crunch fixtures in the coming months but there's so much that the team still has to offer. Fabinho is yet to make a start for Liverpool, the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Dejan Lovren are still returning to full fitness. Most pundits would even argue that Firmino, Mane and Salah have more to offer up front.
Liverpool surely have a tough road ahead of them. But can they meet the expectations they have set early on in the season? Most definitely.
