Liverpool look for the team to beat in the title race after beating Spurs

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou reclaimed the famous line from the movie Gladiator after a passionate win over Manchester United when he asked: “Aren’t you happy?”

That’s how Postecoglou responded to questions about his cavalier approach, after Spurs threatened to go 3-0 down in Thursday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final before winning 4-3.

The problem is that Postecoglou’s idea of ​​entertainment works both ways – as he and Spurs realize the cost as they are brutally punished by Liverpool right in front of their supporters.

Liverpool certainly found Spurs entertaining in a 6-3 win that hardly reflected their superiority. It proves why Arne Slot’s side are in control of the title race with a four-point lead over Chelsea at Christmas, with a game in hand, while Spurs languish in 11th place, well off the spot. Wednesday 8 points.

Entertainment has never been a problem for Spurs under Postecoglou. But the joy is mixed with an element of sporting torture when they face a team with world-class attacking quality like Liverpool.

There have now been 30 goals in Spurs’ last 5 matches. The entertainment was fine, but 10 of those were scored against Postecoglou’s side in back-to-back home defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool. In the latter case, the only question is how Liverpool only scored six goals while somehow conceding three.

Liverpool’s expected goals total is 4.6 compared to Spurs’ 1.2. Slot’s team, as measured by Opta’s statistics, created nine big chances – evidence of their dominance as well as the defensive vulnerability Postecoglou shows little sign of resolving with pragmatism than.

It would be unfair to Postecoglou and Spurs not to point out that he is missing first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario as well as centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. These are big absences for a team that plays in such an open style, especially Van de Ven, whose pace is vital to Postecoglou’s favored high lane.

Spurs are stretched for numbers, meaning Postecoglou field an unchanged squad from the match against Manchester United on Thursday.

However, there are no such problems for Liverpool, who have now won 12 and drawn three of their 16 matches this season. They also have the highest goal difference of plus 21.