Use your head like Sadio and subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

In the latest installment of his statistical column, Andrew Beesley (@BassTunedToRed) explores just how dominant Liverpool were against Tottenham at both ends of the pitch.

Liverpool’s inexorable march to 114 points continued with a fine 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley.

After a couple of matches where the result was better than the performance, it was great to see the Reds dominate the game and deservedly head home with three points.

However, the margin of victory should have been more emphatic, and the finishing this season remains below par. Mohamed Salah missed a clear-cut chance for the fifth time in 2018/19 - with his opener against West Ham the only one he has converted so far - and Naby Keita spurned a golden opportunity to register his first Liverpool goal too.

But then teams always go through hot and cold spells for this sort of thing, which is why it’s important to look at the underlying statistics. On this front, Jürgen Klopp’s side were very worthy winners.

The stand out statistic was that Liverpool had 10 shots on target. Granted, a couple were from outside the box and not too threatening, but even so it’s rare for a team to have so many in such a big match.

James Yorke, of the football analytics and data company Statsbomb, noted after the game that this was the fourth time Spurs had conceded at least 10 shots on target in a league game since Mauricio Pochettino took charge of the club. It has occurred twice at Manchester City, and also at Newcastle on the final day of 2015/16. They conceded at least four goals in those three games too.

So, Liverpool became the first team to test Tottenham’s goalkeeper at least 10 times on home turf under their present manager. But it was also the first time in the past three years that any away team in a ‘big six’ league match had registered so many shots on target. Indeed, the average tally by the visiting teams in such games is just four.

Hitting double figures for shots on target is nothing new for Klopp’s Liverpool though. When compared to recent Liverpool managers, the German is something of a master in this field.

(Image: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

In the seven-and-a-bit seasons prior to Klopp’s arrival, Liverpool had 10 or more shots on target in 21 of their league matches, with four of those being away from Anfield. As a coincidental aside, the last such game on the road was when Brendan Rodgers’ team won 5-0 at Tottenham in 2013/14.

The Reds’ current boss has seen his side register double figures for shots on target 14 times, including four occasions away from home. Klopp has overseen 40 percent of Liverpool’s league games since August 2008 where they’ve had at least ten shots on target, but only been in charge for 29 percent of the matches in total.

With this result, the Reds put their 4-1 defeat at Wembley from last season firmly in the past where it belongs.

In the 34 league games since that miserable day, Liverpool have conceded just 24 goals. The last time they conceded fewer in a 34 game stretch (they conceded 21) culminated in an emotionally-charged 4-0 win over Blackburn in April 2009.

So while 34 games is an odd, arbitrary time-frame, Liverpool’s defence hasn’t been better in that odd, arbitrary time-frame for almost a decade. Or to put it another way, in the 34 game run which ended with that heavy Wembley loss to Spurs, Liverpool conceded 44 goals.

The turnaround has been remarkable, and will certainly power the Reds into title contention if it can be maintained.