‘We knew’: Liverpool player admits he knew exactly how to take advantage of Conte’s tactics today

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Andy Robertson says Liverpool knew how to attack Antonio Conte’s tactics on Sunday. The Reds won the game 2-1.

Liverpool went to Tottenham Hotspur and won 2-1 on Sunday – a massive win in their season. It puts them on course for a fantastic end to the first-half of the season. Going into the World Cup break on a high could be game-changing, after all.

This was a massive test, though, and Liverpool had to fight hard. Their first-half was brilliant, leaving Spurs unable to compete at times. After the game, Andy Robertson said that’s because the Reds knew how to play against Antonio Conte’s tactics.

“Yeah, we knew we had to kind of take the game,” he told Sky Sports. “We knew if they went three at the back that me and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] would have a lot of space and it was up to us to capitalise on that.

“We drove forward, we got these boys on the ball and they made the magic happen.”

Antonio Conte’s tactics

It’s brave to play with wingbacks against Liverpool in a game where you want to win. Playing for a draw? It can work but Spurs frequently found themselves stretched on Sunday.

Darwin Nunez, in particular, took advantage. He pulled wide left constantly in that first half, dragging Eric Dier all the way out to the flank as Emerson Royal tried to watch Robertson.

One hallmark of the first 45, in fact, was Alexander-Arnold finding space for a cross-field pass to Nunez or Robertson. Spurs, with wingbacks trying to cover so much space, were unable to cover all of Liverpool’s wide options.

It’s no surprise, then, that Liverpool found their opener in that fashion. In the end, getting their full-backs forward to create space won the game – even if Spurs managed to fix the problem after half-time.