Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has revealed that he and his teammates were "not happy" to concede three times against Tottenham, even though the win saw the Reds move four points clear at the Premier League's summit.
Mac Allister scored in the first half to help Liverpool ease to a 6-3 victory. But Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke both netted late on when the result was already sealed to keep the margin of scoreline lower than it could have been.
"We spoke about it in the dressing room," Mac Allister told the BBC. "We are not happy with the fact we conceded three goals, that's very clear. But we scored six, that’s not very easy.
"Tottenham are a good team, they press really high, they are aggressive, we knew we had to put the ball in behind and score the opportunities we had. We are happy with the result, there are many things to improve but we’re happy to get the three points."
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was in agreement. "For 60 minutes, we did everything we had to do," he said. "We were comfortable and good with the ball. The main thing is we worked very, very hard.
"But then the same players with the same quality thought that 10 or 15 minutes of not working as hard was good enough. Tottenham have enough quality to score goals if you give them chances. You have to be on top of your game for the whole game and we didn’t do that."
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz combined to score the Liverpool opener vs Spurs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz combined to score the Liverpool opener vs Spurs. (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images2024 Liverpool FC)
Dominik Szoboszlai was arguably the Player of the Match as he ran things alongside Mac Allister in the center of the pitch. And the Argentine was impressed with his Liverpool teammate.
"Dom is amazing," Mac Allister added. "He can do everything; on and off the ball he is really good. He played a really good game; same with the attackers. We’re in a really good moment.
**"**At the back, we have to play simple and get the ball to them [attackers]. We worked on this the whole week and we try to improve every single day. We know we have to concede less, we are not happy with conceding three today, but it is what it is, we play against really good teams. Maybe we have to defend better but also we know we are dangerous when we attack."
Liverpool.com says: While the Reds did concede three times, they could easily have scored a couple more than they did. Liverpool is in a commanding position in the Premier League table and getting the win was the most important thing. Striving for perfection is no bad thing but neither is winning by three goals!