Chris Sutton has pinpointed Liverpool’s failure to see out games from winning positions as their ‘Achilles heel’ after the Reds conceded a late equaliser to Tottenham on Sunday.
In a frantic encounter, Liverpool took the lead early on through Mo Salah, with the Egyptian scoring within three minutes after a defensive error from Spurs.
Tottenham equalised on 80 minutes through a screamer from Victor Wanyama, before Kane missed a penalty to take Spurs ahead.
Salah scored after 93 minutes to seemingly hand Liverpool the three points, but the Reds conceded another penalty to give Kane a second chance from the spot, and the Premier League’s top scorer made no mistake the second time round.
In a column for the Daily Mail, Sutton said: “Liverpool’s inability to see games through is their Achilles heel. They had bags of energy in the first half and were superb out of possession in disrupting Tottenham’s rhythm. Yet after the break, they ran out of steam. Facing wave upon wave of Tottenham attacks, Liverpool needed someone to put their foot on the ball but James Milner, Emre Can and Jordan Henderson lacked that composure in midfield.
“What stops them reaching the levels of Manchester City is that when Pep Guardiola’s side come under intense pressure, they have the confidence to keep the ball. You can point to individual errors but ultimately Liverpool’s lack of game-management cost them three points on Sunday.”
OPINION
You can’t help but agree with Sutton here. Time and time again this season Liverpool have surrendered three points from winning positions. Teams seem to come alive against them in the final 20 minutes, it’s almost as if they run out of steam every week. They were unlucky with some decisions against Spurs, but until VAR is fully introduced, that will be part of the game as it always has been. The Reds need to find a way of managing games, and protecting precious points, or they may rue games like this massively when it comes to the end of the season.