Match date: 10 February 2015

Both teams had their struggles in the beginning of the season, with Rodgers trying to get the best out of his new players while coping with injuries and Suarez’s sale. Tottenham struggled to initially fully grasp Pochettino’s philosophy, but now Liverpool and Tottenham are two of the most in-form teams in the English Premier League and two of the five teams that are battling for a Champions League spot.

Rodgers made two enforced changes to the XI that drew Everton 0-0, with Lucas and Sterling out of the match day squad through injury. In their place, Gerrard moved back into centre midfield, making way for Lazar Markovic to return to the XI, while Sturridge was given his first start since returning from injury.

Pochettino, however, kept the same Xi that beat Arsenal 2-1 in the North London derby at the weekend.

Pressing From Both Sides

Rodgers and Pochettino both have reputations of getting their teams to press high up the pitch. It is something that Liverpool excelled in last year, but lacked for much of the beginning of the season. Pochettino’s Southampton pressed intensely during his time at St. Mary’s and has gotten his Spurs’ side to work just as hard off the ball. In this match, their pressing made for an open, direct match. Liverpool’s pressing was not as fervent and high up the pitch as Spurs’, but it was effective. Coutinho and Markovic would sit at about the halfway line, waiting for passes into Mason and Bentaleb as Spurs tried to build their attacks and look to apply immediate pressure, which forced the duo into some poor backpasses in the first half in particular, that allowed Sturridge in, only for Lloris to save. More often than not, however, Liverpool succeed when Mason and Bentaleb tried to play square passes across midfield. It seemed to be a trigger for Markovic and Coutinho; one would dictate a square pass and the other would wait to intercept. It led to Liverpool playing very quick and direct, especially in the first half. Markovic’s opener wasn’t the result of exactly what was described above, but it was similar as the Serbian was first to a loose ball in Tottenham’s half and showed no hesitation in running right at Dier.

While Liverpool waited for passes in midfield, Tottenham looked to press a bit higher up the pitch and at times Liverpool struggled to get the ball out effectively. Often the likes of Sakho and Skrtel would be under pressure and try to play a ball into Henderson or Gerrard, but Tottenham’s pressing would allow them to win the ball back and attack again.

Liverpool Attack Through Ibe

Liverpool’s rise in form coincides with the move to a 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 that Rodgers has employed. There are a lot of reasons for the success Liverpool have found with it; Coutinho and Lallana (though the Englishman has been less influential than the Brazilian) are given freedom to express themselves and let their creativity flow. Their high position also means that Liverpool have begun pressing with much more intensity than they had at the beginning of the season. Another reason for Liverpool’s success is the influence that the wing backs have had going forward. Whether it’s been Markovic, Moreno, Henderson, Sterling, or Ibe, there has been a consistent attacking threat and against Spurs, it was very evident.

Jordon Ibe was given another starting role after his display against Everton and he, again, did very well. In the first half, he found himself in 1v1s against Danny Rose on numerous occasions and beat the Tottenham defender a few times with both trickery and pace. In the first half, and for the entire match, he received the ball more than any other Liverpool player, acting as a constant outlet for Liverpool’s play from the back. He played a number of good passes into the box, one of which led to Sturridge’s best chance of the first half that forced Lloris into a good save.

His influence on the match and ability to beat Rose in 1v1 situations seemed to stunt tactical solutions for Pochettino. The Spurs boss could have forced Liverpool into playing long, especially once he got his players in at half time. He could have pushed Eriksen to Can, Kane to Skrtel, and Lamela to Sakho, while still outnumbering Liverpool in centre midfield with Mason, Bentaleb, and Dembele against Gerrard and Henderson. However, it seems Ibe’s performance forced Pochettino to tell Eriksen and Chadli, with the Belgian coming on for the Dane, that they needed to drop off a bit, rather than press to Liverpool’s right side centre back, to offer Rose protection against Ibe in case of a quick move by Liverpool on the right. Below is an excellent example: Lamela is pressing Sakho, Kane is on Skrtel, but Chadli has dropped off, allowing Lovren to receive the ball, with Ibe out wide.

Ibe was the player that found Sturridge in the Tottenham penalty area before Danny Rose fouled the striker. Prior to Balotelli’s winning goal, Ibe’s performance allowed Lallana, who came on in 79th minute, to find a decent amount of space in the halfspace on the right with the Tottenham players more concerned about Ibe. For the goal, Ibe drew both Rose and Bentaleb to him, with the latter going past Lallana to help Rose double Ibe. Ibe then found Lallana, who played the ball across the six yard box for Balotelli to score.

Sturridge & Kane

Both strikers had good games for their respective teams. Sturridge had a number of chances to test Lloris as a result of his anticipation of poor back passes from Tottenham players and his quick thinking that saw Lloris save one chance and another hit the post. He of course also drew the penalty that put Liverpool ahead at 2-1. Despite being off for a number of months, his movement looked good and his pace put Dier and Vertonghen in difficult situations, especially Dier, who had to make a few recovery tackles on the Liverpool man.

Kane had a good day as well, scoring one after good play from Eriksen and Lamela and a slip from Sakho, and he set up Dembele’s goal, but he was marked fairly well by Skrtel for much of the game. The Slovakian kept Kane close for much of the match and Kane did not seem as keen to drift from outside the width of the six yard box as he did against Arsenal, which made it a bit harder for him to become involved in Spurs’ build up play. A lot of that has to do with Liverpool playing with three at the back, meaning there wasn’t as much space out wide as there was against Arsenal, but it made it easier for Kane to be marked tightly by Skrtel.

Conclusion

An excellent match that saw two in-form teams attack one another with purpose. Liverpool continue their 2015 surge, collecting 21 of their last 27 points in the Premier League and closing the gap between them and Southampton, currently in fourth, to four points, while Manchester United, in third, are just five points away.

Ibe put in a man of the match performance, not only for what he created when going forward and being Liverpool’s first choice outlet, but also because it forced Pochettino to have players sit a bit deeper, rather than aid in their pressing, which allowed Liverpool to build from the back a bit easier.

Liverpool play another top four contender in Southampton in their next Premier League fixture, while Tottenham host West Ham United, who have faded a bit from the top four battle.