Analysis

Champions League hits and misses: Joel Matip's 'big moment' gets Liverpool over the line against Ajax

Plus: Heung-Min Son's scoring drought continues for Tottenham against Sporting Lisbon, while their former player Marcus Edwards shows them what they are missing

Wednesday 14 September 2022 12:01, UK

A big moment: Matip gets Liverpool over the line

This was not quite the reinvention of Liverpool that Jurgen Klopp had hoped for. In fact, it could even have been a damaging defeat had Ajax not spurned their sporadic chances in the second half. But the Liverpool manager could not hide his delight after the 2-1 win at Anfield thanks to Joel Matip's late header.

And with good reason. This was huge. One point from two Champions League games going into a double-header against Rangers would have been fraught with difficulty. Now there is some relief, some optimism, and maybe something to build the season on.

The atmosphere had been a little subdued in the early part of the game but it reached a crescendo in the closing moments and that was a credit to Liverpool's ambition. Klopp threw on the attacking substitutes and was rewarded with the winning goal.

It was not a substitute who scored the goal but Liverpool's depth did make a difference and they will hope to have more players fit and fresh following the international break. The rhythm is not quite there yet but that goal still felt like a big moment in their season.
Adam Bate

Use your head: Set-piece prowess a dangerous weapon

Teams that challenge for major honours do the so-called dirty stuff better than the rest. They run further, they win more tackles and they score the most from set-pieces. Although defining set-pieces as the 'dirty stuff' probably is a little rich when you consider clubs now employ specialist coaches to oversee that part of the game.

And when it comes to that type of art, Liverpool are the kings.

Klopp's men fashioned 208 shots in the Premier League last season from set-pieces - no team had more. If you combined Wolves and Leicester's total shots from such situations it was still fewer than what Liverpool managed.

That threat was on full show against Ajax and eventually provided the match-winning moment. Before Matip's looping winning headed goal, he and Virgil van Dijk already had six efforts on goal between them from corners. The quality of chances dropping their way totalled over 0.5 worth of expected goals - that was twice as much as what Ajax created in total from all avenues.

Time after time, it was a Liverpool player winning the first contact. That is no fluke. Nobody does it better.
Lewis Jones

What's happened to Son?

Heung-Min Son's goal drought continues. The last time the forward hit the back of the net was for South Korea back in June. You have to journey all the way back to mid-May for Son's last entry in a Spurs shirt. Eight appearances, zero goals this season.

By his very high standards, something is off. It is not just a lack of goal involvements that will be concerning for Antonio Conte - his industry and endeavour also appear to have taken a knock.

He cut a forlorn figure when coming off the pitch in the 72nd minute of the 2-0 defeat to Sporting Lisbon to make way for Dejan Kulusevski. The wonderfully-cheery Son smile, for which he is famed, has disappeared. Sombre Son is the new guise.

Conte spoke in the game's preamble about the importance of utilising his squad in Champions League competition but only made one change - while Sporting's introductions dramatically altered the course of the match.

Paulinho came on in the 76th minute and scored in the 90th, while Arthur Gomes entered the fray just before additional time and scored 54 seconds later. Game-changing moves.

Spurs' best openings, contrastingly, fell to full-back Emerson Royal which spoke volumes about their non-existent frontline. Harry Kane and Richarlison shared a chance apiece. None for Son. You would be forgiven for forgetting he was even named on the teamsheet, such was his elusiveness.

Son's fall from grace has been quite remarkable considering he was the joint-Golden Boot winner last season. Low on confidence, certainly lacking in conviction, the 30-year-old perhaps needs to sit the next one out. His flair will undoubtedly return but Conte's faith is only serving to harm Spurs' fluidity up top in the short term.
Laura Hunter

Edwards shows Spurs erred in selling him

Marcus Edwards insisted there was no added motivation in facing his former club when interviewed immediately after Tuesday's game but it did not look that way out on the pitch. Edwards played like a young man with a point to prove for Sporting Lisbon against Tottenham.

The 23-year-old, born and raised in Enfield and a Spurs player from the age of eight until he was 20, was the outstanding performer as Sporting stunned Conte's side at Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Spurs could not live with him in the first half, his speed on the break making him a dangerous outlet from as early as the seventh minute, when he motored forward and teed up Pedro Goncalves for a low shot which required a sprawling save from Hugo Lloris.

There were plenty more eye-catching moments to follow but the best of them came shortly before half-time when Edwards, once likened to Lionel Messi by Mauricio Pochettino, embarked on a magical run the man himself would have been proud of.

Edwards completed five dribbles in the first half alone - two more than anyone else managed in the entire game - and there was intelligence to his play too, evident in the positions he took up between the lines as Sporting's false nine.

His performance was a continuation of a fine start to the season in Portugal, where he has flourished, first with Vitoria de Guimaraes; now with Sporting, and it will leave some at Spurs red-faced.

His boyhood club had high hopes for him in his youth but a player long regarded as the most talented of his generation at Spurs was sold in 2019 having only been afforded one senior appearance. How they must regret that now. Edwards looks destined for big things. Maybe he always was.
Nick Wright