The international break didn’t make much of a difference to Liverpool as the Reds continued their winning ways in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp’s side ran out 2-1 winners over Tottenham at Wembley. The win should surely place us amongst the early favourites for the title.
To be honest, the scoreline flatters Spurs since we should have been far ahead in terms of goals and Tottenham only scored in stoppage time.
Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino got the goals for us but there was a lot more to the game than just the scoreline.
Georginio Wijnaldum is getting better with each game
The Dutch midfielder has gone front strength to strength this season and even in a new No. 6 role, Wijnaldum is doing better than expected.
The former Newcastle midfielder could have been the player to get the axe after we signed Fabinho but the Dutch midfielder is keeping not only the Brazilian out but also Jordan Henderson.
Wijnaldum scored his first Premier League away goal against Tottenham and he is only getting better with more minutes on the pitch.
Alisson has learned from his mistake
There were fears that Alisson would be a target for Tottenham and the rest of the Premier League after his error against Leicester City.
What we saw, however, was a different game from Alisson. The keeper didn’t waste time with the ball at his feet and ensured he passed to a Liverpool player.
Alisson didn’t take any risks against Tottenham and that certainly helped us keep Spurs at bay.
The goals will come for Salah
Before the goal from Erik Lamela, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane had gilt-edged chances to wrap up the game.
The pair either shot straight at Michel Vorm or missed the target and we were lucky that it did not come back to bite us (Mane was extremely fortunate not to give a penalty away in the last minute).
Salah got into a number of quality positions but his finishing seemed off. Klopp too seemed a little peeved that the Egyptian was not passing the ball to an open teammate.
The Egyptian’s dry run might be a worry but Salah is still getting into the right places and the goals will come eventually. Salah started last season slowly as well and missed a number of opportunities before going on a tear and he could do the same in the coming weeks.
Liverpool know how to grind out results
This Liverpool is far from the nervy side that lost games towards the end. The victories against Crystal Palace, Leicester City and now Tottenham prove that we can grind out wins even if we are playing poorly.
It is a testament that the team has 15 points from the opening five games, doing so for the first time since 1990-91. Of course, I would prefer 4-0s and 5-0s but three points are three points and if we keep winning in this fashion, we should win some trophies.
5 – Liverpool have won their opening five games of a top-flight season for the third time in their history (also 1990-91 and 1978-79). Marker. #TOTLIV pic.twitter.com/eCbxnudoz6
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 15, 2018
Klopp ready to switch things against Paris
The Champions League starts with us facing Paris Saint-Germain and the Ligue 1 side will have Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
PSG won’t be an easy side and we must freshen things up either in the attack or the midfield. Our playing style needs some fresh faces midweek and we could see the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Daniel Sturridge and even Fabinho getting a start.
Klopp did a really good job in Europe last season but we had a comparatively easy group than this time.
Read more: “The #6 is suiting you” – Some Liverpool fans praise midfielder’s performance in 2-1 win over Spurs
We do have a better team this season though and hopefully, another fantastic Champions League run will be on the cards.
