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Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
After a difficult month, Liverpool looked closer to their best selves in a 4-2 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.
Liverpool falling out of the race for the Premier League title as the Jürgen Klopp era nears its end was a difficult pill to swallow, but the hope at least heading into the final three games was that with the pressure off it might free the players up to at least send the departing manager out with a few good performances.
That turned out to be exactly what everyone got on Sunday against Tottenham, as the Reds dashed any lingering hopes Spurs might have had in their own race—to finish in the top four and secure a Champions League place—with a 4-2 goal-fest victory that likely represented Liverpool’s best performance in at least a month.
“I really like the way the boys played,” Klopp said afterwards. “I liked the individual performances, how we played together. There were so many good things today. Yes, we conceded two, but it was a really good football game, and I think that’s what everybody expects from us—results as well—and we delivered.”
Not that it was a perfect outing, with Tottenham their goals and forcing a few more saves out of Alisson Becker to make things interesting after the Reds ran rampantly to a four-goal lead. As Klopp saw it, it was a result of his side taking their foot off the gas. But it’s hard to complain too much about a high-scoring victory.
“Did I expect us to be 4-0 up?” Klopp added. “No. Then did I expect it to be 4-2 and Ali has to make more saves? No. But when you think about it, because before the game Aston Villa lost it means for Tottenham if they win they are fully back in the fight for the Champions League. For us, it now means we are third.
“We cannot change that probably anymore now in either direction. We spoke before the game about it that, that three points should be enough but in high-performance sport it’s not always. For the boys, it was today, I loved that. We were outstanding until we were not good until we were alright again but that’s all fine.”
