Image Credits: Imago Images
Winning away in the Premier League is never simple. Doing it in north London, with emotions running high and the clock stretching past 100 minutes, makes it even harder. Liverpool learned that again against Tottenham. The scoreline said 2-1, but the game felt tighter than that. Spurs were reduced to nine men, yet they kept coming. The crowd stayed loud. The ball kept dropping into Liverpool’s box. Every clearance mattered.
This is the stage of the season where fatigue builds. Games come fast. Pressure grows. Liverpool needed points to steady their league position. They also needed calm after a messy run earlier in the campaign. This win mattered because it showed resilience. It also showed why leadership off the pitch can matter as much as tactics on it. The response after the final whistle said a lot about how this Liverpool squad is being managed.
Slot explained his thinking clearly after the game. “Three points away at Spurs is very nice,” he admitted. “For us, the aim was again to win because we need wins to make the league table look a bit better for us.” He was honest about how uncomfortable the end was. “They were close, they came close a few times.” He added, “It’s unbelievable if you play against nine men that in the nine minutes of added time I wouldn’t be surprised if they had the ball for eight-and-a-half minutes. That’s not what you expect.”
The Liverpool boss linked that chaos to where his team is right now. “Maybe that tells you where we are in the season. We need a few wins to get a bit more comfortable if we have a setback like today where the goalie concedes for 2-1.” After that test, Slot chose to give his players Christmas Day off. It was a reward and a reset. Captain Virgil van Dijk backed that approach. “Now we have a couple of days off,” he said as per The Athletic. “We will recover and then we will focus on Wolves.” He made the priorities clear. “First we have Christmas. Being with your family and being healthy are the most important things in life.” From a Liverpool point of view, the message is simple. Grind out the win. Recover properly. Then go again.
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