There must be something about Tottenham Hotspur which lights a fire inside Roberto Firmino. The Brazilian set Liverpool on their way to a 3-1 win on Thursday evening when he scored from point blank range on the brink of half time.
It was the fifth goal Firmino has scored against the Lilywhites from north London, and the previous four all occurred in matches settled by a single goal. With that many vital contributions, Hugo Lloris must be sick of the sight of him.
The Reds’ absurd goalless run in the league had ticked on past eight hours when their number nine got onto the end of Sadio Mane’s drilled pass through the six-yard box. It appeared that a weight had been lifted from Jurgen Klopp and his whole team, and their second half performance was superb.
It was inevitable that Liverpool would score again eventually, of course, but Firmino’s goal could kick-start them for the second half of the campaign.
Bobby’s performance may not have been the most immediately eye-catching of his Liverpool career, but it contained a subtle brilliance which is certainly apparent in the statistics.
He was always available for a colleague to pass to, and used the ball incredibly well once he was in possession of it. Firmino received 47 passes in the match (per FBRef), the most he has seen since Liverpool won 2-0 at the London Stadium last January (and a repeat of that score line on Sunday would be most welcome).
And when he had the ball, Spurs were determined to get it back. The Brazilian made 21 passes while under pressure, a tally he last topped against Bayern Munich at Anfield in 2019. There’s every chance that Thiago Alcantara did plenty of the pressing on him in that clash, yet the win at Tottenham was perhaps the match where their new relationship as teammates truly blossomed.
The Spanish international was top of Firmino’s chart for both passes made to and received from, which marks a notable change from previous games. They exchanged 15 passes in their 78 minutes together here, when they’d only tallied 36 in 344 league minutes prior to this match.
A good example occurred as the first half drew to a close, when James Milner found Thiago just inside the Tottenham half. The number six played the ball to Firmino in space, and he slotted it through Spurs’ back line to enable Mane to have a shot on target.
It was one of three chances Bobby created, and he later teed up Thiago for the Reds’ final goal attempt of the night. If this pairing can establish a relationship which flourishes on a regular basis, it could open up a world of possibilities for Liverpool.
Firmino’s partnership with Mohamed Salah has sparked into life recently too, and that continued here. They each created a chance for the other, something which had only happened in four previous league matches this season.
The most recent example was the 0-0 draw with Manchester United, and Bobby also picked up two assists for the Egyptian in the FA Cup match at Old Trafford last weekend (having created three clear-cut chances for him in the match).
Across their time together, Firmino and Salah have linked up to forge 27 goals, the most of any duo in the Klopp era, so it’s great to see them combining well on a consistent basis ahead of a challenging schedule of matches.
With a player of his quality, a return to form was inevitable, and it’s not like he wasn’t involved in many of the Reds’ best moments during their recent barren run. In their previous five league matches, Liverpool wasted seven clear-cut chances while Firmino was on the pitch, and he either created or took the shot for four of them. But for poor touches at vital moments against Newcastle and Southampton, he might have had a couple more.
This resurgence was always on the cards, and if he can maintain a strong link-up with both Thiago and Salah, this could be the start of a golden period for Firmino.
