When Ange-ball meets 'heavy metal' | Spurs vs Liverpool
Fri 29 September 2023, 13:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Up next for us in the Premier League is an enticing clash against Liverpool with two teams who pride themselves on an attacking identity.
Saturday’s late kick-off (5.30pm UK) will be a proper test of early season form with both sides enjoying unbeaten starts and currently sitting in the top four after six league games.
Off the back of our north London derby 2-2 draw at Arsenal last time out, the challenges keep coming for Ange Postecoglou as he looks to turn the tide against an opponent we haven't beaten in our last 11 league meetings (drawn three, lost eight) and who remain undefeated in their four trips to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Having said that, our Head Coach has made an impressive start to life at the Club to equal our best ever start at this stage of a Premier League campaign. Our spirited performance to earn a point at the Emirates, where we twice came from behind thanks to goals from the in-form Heung-Min Son, took us to 14 points and continued our impressive record of scoring at least two goals in each of Ange's first six matches in charge. If we repeat that feat this weekend, he will become only the second manager to score at least twice in their first seven matches after Craig Shakespeare did so with Leicester City in 2016/17.
Watch - Son's brace at the Emirates
These attacking stats are becoming the new-norm under the Australian who has implemented a system that places emphasis on an aggressive, front-foot style to notch 15 goals in six games - this is only the second time we have scored this amount at the same stage after hitting 16 under Jose Mourinho in 2020/21.
Ange has placed demands on the squad that has seen us press more and play in more advanced areas to register the most shots (114) and touches in the opponent's box of any side and record the second highest amount of high turnovers in the division, a stat we ranked second bottom in last term.
One of four sides still undefeated in the league - as well as us, Arsenal and Manchester City - Liverpool have put together the longest current unbeaten run in Europe’s major leagues with a recent 3-1 league victory over West Ham United extending the streak to 17 games.
Jurgen Klopp has found a way to fine tune his 'heavy metal' football philosophy which has seen them accumulate 41 points since their last defeat to Manchester City back in April. Some astute summer transfer business, particularly in midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, has bolstered the attacking unit which has helped them score in their previous 16 league games and benefitted the likes of their talisman Mohamed Salah who has seven goal involvements in his six league appearances (three goals, four assists).
Interestingly, both us and Liverpool have developed a habit of being comeback specialists and our eight points gained from losing positions is bettered only by their nine. The Reds have conceded first in five of their eight games in all competitions this season, three of those coming away from home, but they have rallied to win on each occasion so far - beating Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, LASK and Leicester City.
This fixture traditionally brings goals with both sides scoring in all but one of the previous 12 outings in the league, either side of Liverpool’s 1-0 win in January, 2020, and we played out a dramatic seven-goal thriller in our last outing at Anfield, suffering an agonising late defeat having staged a remarkable recovery to get back on level terms from three goals down in the opening 15 minutes.
In what will be Ange's first experience of facing Klopp and Liverpool in his career, it has all the ingredients to be another all-action encounter as two attack-minded coaches pit their wits against each other for the first time.
