Antonio Conte spoke of the “desire” his side will need to find a way to stop Liverpool this weekend. Tottenham will travel to Anfield in need of a victory to continue their pursuit of a Champions League place, while Liverpool are fighting to secure a historic quadruple.
The Reds are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season and haven’t dropped points since a 2-2 draw with Brighton back in October. It’ll therefore be a tall order for Conte’s side to stop Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Interestingly though, the Italian coach believes that Liverpool’s attacking approach may well play into Tottenham’s hands. “It is very difficult to play against Liverpool – they are in really good form,” Conte said. “I watched [the Champions League semi-final against] Villarreal and the composure, the calm was incredible. The team is strong, it is one of the best in the world. At the same time it will be a good game for us.
“Whenever you play these top teams it is important there is the great desire to find a way to stop them. Against Manchester City it happened twice and against Liverpool we drew at home. For sure I think it’s better when you play face to face with these teams than when we find a team who are very very deep with not so much of the ball.”
Conte’s comments do carry some merit. His side has won five of their last seven matches, dropping points against only Brentford and Brighton. In both those matches, Spurs failed to register a single shot on target as they struggled to break down more compact defensive structures.
It’ll be a different challenge against Liverpool though who are more than certain to dominate the ball and territory on Saturday night, just as they did in the first meeting back in December. But Conte believes this is something that’ll suit his side, “Against Leicester we played face to face: you attack, we attack. For us it’s better, given the characteristic of our players.”
Although Spurs’ squad is strong, their two most obvious dangermen are Son Heung-min and Harry Kane. They’ve registered 32 Premier League goals and 15 assists between them this season, many of them involving one setting up the other.
The duo are particularly dangerous in transitions. There’s almost a sixth sense understanding between the two and we’ll regularly see situations in which one of the attackers will drop short to receive the ball while the other makes darting runs in behind a defensive line ready to latch onto any potential through ball.
They are a key reason why only two Premier League sides can boast having scored more Premier League goals from counter-attacks this season, and Klopp was quick to acknowledge the risk they pose to his side in Friday afternoon’s press conference.
“(They have) speed like crazy up front, Harry Kane, what a player, they have a blind understanding (the front men). It's probably the biggest challenge for protection we've faced in a long time. We have to find a way to keep them calm as often as possible”
While Liverpool tend to cope with most challenges they face each week, there’s an argument to make that Reds' style of play does feed into the duo’s strengths.
Liverpool usually dominate the ball and look to pin their opponents inside their own half. A key factor behind doing this successfully is playing a high defensive line. Their centre-backs are strong in the air and quick across the ground, meaning they deal with most counter-attacking threats well.
Opposition attackers also struggle to accurately time their runs in order to successfully break Liverpool’s high offside trap. Yet even so, a consequence of their style is that when an opponent does time their run right, it usually leads to a big goalscoring opportunity.
Liverpool have one of the best defensive records in the division this season, yet it’s common to see them give up at least one big chance per game to the opposition. That’s a point captured by @Jhdharrison1’s data.
According to the same, only two Premier League keepers have faced more one-aganst-one shots than Alisson this season. Thankfully for Klopp, the Liverpool number one has the best save percentage of any keeper in such situations, however the finishing efficiency of both Son and Kane means that giving up such opportunities on Saturday night could prove extremely costly.
