Liverpool £68m trio show Jürgen Klopp future

Liverpool have not always had the ability to control matches this season, but for around an hour or so against an injury-depleted-but-still-dangerous Tottenham, that is what they did. When Antonio Conte brought Dejan Kulusevski off the bench, the game changed, with his Spurs side suddenly having an out-ball and a creative spark to help the lonesome Harry Kane.

But that has happened before against even the very best of Liverpool teams. Just last season, the game became a chaotic affair in a campaign when the Reds were as close to perfection as anyone has ever been. Even at Anfield against the same opponents last season in the run-in, they could not win, which was a result that left them frustrated and allowed Manchester City to ultimately win the title.

For Liverpool, while they had to hang on for the final half an hour at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, there are positives to be taken from the fact that they firstly gave themselves something to hang onto — scoring first in the game has been a rarity this season — and secondly that they managed to do so.

For large periods of the game, Fabinho looked considerably better than he has done of late, with perhaps only his performance against Manchester City matching this one. Thiago Alcântara alongside him was his usual self for the most part, though he was one who got caught up in a few moments of sloppiness than invited Spurs forward as the hosts chased an equalising goal. 

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Harvey Elliott — harshly pinpointed by some as a reason for Liverpool’s lack of defensive stability this season — was as hard-working as ever. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s vulnerability in one-versus-one situations was certainly not down to Elliott in front of him.

Elliott never stopped running, with one moment in the second half seeing him chase Ivan Perišić and then Ryan Sessegnon backwards, highlighting his improving off-the-ball work. That summed up the shift that the midfield three put in, with Fabinho backing him up and Thiago tucked across — the extra man compared to the 4-4-2 system vital against a packed Spurs midfield.

Question marks remain over the form of Fabinho in the bigger picture — while this was another positive step for the Brazilian, he remains some way off his true peak levels — but it was telling that Klopp went with the Thiago-Fabinho-Elliott trio, bought for a combined £68m, in a clear 4-3-3 system, especially when his captain, Jordan Henderson, was fit.

Rather than focus on the exaggerated impact of Elliott in a defensive sense, it speaks volumes that, even in a game as important as this, Liverpool chose to look to his significant attacking impact instead, with few players ranking ahead of him for progressive passes and creative metrics this season.

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In a midfield three — and it seems like the 4-3-3 system is now here to stay, with Liverpool looking much more solid with that not just here but also against Napoli — Elliott impressed in a big game once more, trusted ahead of the experience of Henderson to perform.

"We have to learn winning again," Jürgen Klopp told Sky Sports post-match after his side’s first away victory in the Premier League this season. That he chose to try and do that with Elliott at the expense of Henderson — and successfully so, too — is a glimpse of what the future looks like for Liverpool.

Henderson should be being slowly phased out at the age that he is, and that should have been the case in the summer when another midfielder should have been purchased in the transfer market. It seems like that process may have begun now regardless, with Elliott prosperously staking a claim on the big occasion.