Harry Kane reckons Liverpool’s fast start and his team’s failure to match it was the primary reason for our 2-0 Anfield win last time out.
A brace from Sadio Mane confirmed the crucial victory which keeps us well in the race for the top four, but it was the pressing and passion the players showed early on that was most pleasing to Liverpool fans who’ve been bereft of things to cheer about recently.
SEE MORE:
Ten years on from Barcelona 1-2 Liverpool, where are the XI Reds who started that night now?
The 2-0 win puts us one points behind Tottenham, who are still in the FA Cup and Europa League.
“We’ve been starting slowly in the last month or so,” Kane told his club’s official website. “We got away with it at City, got punished at Liverpool and punished again at Gent in midweek.
“We wanted to put that right, get on the front foot, press high and win the ball back. We did that and created plenty of early chances, we should have scored a few more but it was a good win in the end.”
The Englishman has a point. Whenever Liverpool start quickly, with dynamism and energy, it gets the crowd on side and sets the tone for the game. We did it against Chelsea recently, but most notably versus Spurs – our best performance of the calendar year by some distance.
Our most impressive displays in 2016 were categorised by fast starts as well and it’s essential that we instil an all-action philosophy from the beginning of each of our next 13 Premier League matches.
It’s Leicester City on Monday, who are woefully out of form. If we get on top early, their heads may drop.