Paul Tomkins, Andrew Beasley, Daniel Rhodes, Chris Rowland and other TTT regulars will give their thoughts on the match for 24 hours after the game, and there’s post-match statistics and videos too.
Post-Match Thoughts
Paul Tomkins
After a massive game every three or four days for what feels like months, Liverpool hit the wall against Spurs, in two senses: physically (and therefore mentally), and a giant white barricade.
After the insane schedule, and ahead of more insane scheduling, changes were required against Aston Villa, with the gamble always freshness vs. team unity/strongest XI. You only know if it’s the right decision if the result goes your way, and as such, you have to let the manager decide, and let the chips fall where they may.
It could work, or it could backfire; but to get to the stage of the season where four trophies are still possible in May, the squad has to have already been brilliantly managed.
That said, I did note on the site’s match thread, just two minutes into the game, that Fabinho would probably have to come off on 60 minutes, given the football he’s played. That was before it became clear he looked knackered, then tweaked his hamstring. By not starting them, it meant less chance of that happening to Mo Salah, Andy Robertson or Thiago.
When you’ve already won more games in a season than at any in the club’s history, and scored more goals than any in the club’s history, you’ve pushed the envelope beyond previous extremes. A successful push or two more would be dreamland, but we cannot be greedy. Beautiful, care-free football is also a big ask, running on empty.
So this was a massive win, with the XI far from its strongest, but the understudies prevailed against an Aston Villa side with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
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