Liverpool again displayed dominance over Tottenham following a 2-1 victory on Sunday, but there were some questions on the absence of Joe Gomez, who appeared at the Reds recent win in the Champions League. For club boss Jurgen Klopp, it was a simple case of game strategy.
First, the German made clear that Gomez has fully recovered from injury, and the player is certainly in top shape. But against the Spurs, Liverpool picked Dejan Lovren over the Cameroon native, and the object for the decision was to win. As it turned out, Klopp's plan worked.
The Liverpool manager knew pairing Lovren with Virgil Van Dijk was the right thing to do. It was the way when Gomez was sidelined, and Klopp thought of using the same approach with the Spurs' visit to Anfield. In other words, the game plan worked in Liverpool's favor because Lovren and Van Dijk clicked.
"Dejan has now got rhythm," Metro reported Klopp as saying.
The German, however, was clear on one thing - Gomez is on his way to 100% and to be sure Liverpool will be seeing more of him on the pitch in the games ahead.
"For Joe, the attitude and intensity he showed when coming on on Wednesday is just what he and we need. Outstanding from him and we will need him a lot," Klopp was reported by Liverpool Echo as saying.
The win over Tottenham propelled Liverpool to a six-point lead over the nearest rival at the Premier League table. And the club remains unbeaten, which makes the favorite to win and likely depose defending champion Manchester City.
Klopp said the Liverpool mindset is to take one game at a time. The players are now preparing to face Arsenal next, and that is the focus at the moment - winning. The team is not comforted by the fact that City is two wins behind, and the table indicates a good advantage over rivals.
The club knows the six-point edge afforded by the win over Spurs can disappear quickly, NBC Sports reported.
"They know there's still a long way to go and a six-point lead at this point of the season means absolutely nothing," the report said.
According to Klopp, the pressing at the moment thrust is to keep winning games and to learn after every outing whether they emerge the victor or the loser. The main goal is to keep improving.
"We don't have to think about what happened if we lost today, how the questions would have been. We know exactly what we have to do. We have to be focused and concentrated on all the specific games ... There is still a lot to come but so far, so good," the Liverpool manager said.
