Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Antonio Conte reaction: Result is ‘unfair’ as Tottenham manager finds defeat ‘difficult to understand’

Antonio Conte, Tottenham, November 2022

Antonio Conte thinks his Tottenham side’s Premier League defeat to Liverpool is “unfair” and the loss is “difficult to understand”.

Spurs started the weekend as the third-placed side in the Premier League. Conte’s men had performed well to remain in that position for some time.

Indeed, they had pulled off some big wins, including a 4-1 victory over Southampton, and a 6-2 drubbing of Leicester City.

While there have been highs so far this season for Spurs, there have also been lows. A 3-1 defeat to rivals Arsenal at the beginning of October fits into that category.

As do defeats to both Manchester United and Newcastle United in the same week, also in October.

Given the mixed bag of results, and an upturn in form for opponents Liverpool of late, it would have been tough to come away with a result.

Indeed, Tottenham went behind in the opening stages, as Mohamed Salah opened the scoring inside 11 minutes. The Egyptian doubled Liverpool’s lead not long before half-time.

One bonus for Tottenham was the return of Dejan Kulusevski. The Swede came on off the bench in the second-half, and had an immediate impact, assisting Harry Kane just two minutes later.

Despite the consolation goal, that was all it remained as, as Liverpool held on for a 2-1 win.

Conte finds defeat hard to explain

Spurs manager Conte was unsure where his team went wrong in the game, and thought the result was not a fair reflection of how his side played.

“It is difficult to explain the defeat tonight, we deserved much more but also after the first half in the dressing room I was happy with the desire and what we did,” he said, via BBC Sport.

“We put a lot of pressure on Liverpool and were 2-0 down but we didn’t know why. In the second half we played really well. Their goalkeeper made good saves and we hit the post and the crossbar. I think the result is unfair.

The manager felt his side deserved more given how they played.

“We scored in the second half and I think we deserved much more from this game. But we have to know when we play against this type of team, a top match, a top game, we have to have motivation. I can’t complain about my players. I go to my house satisfied for the performance and the chances we created,” he added.

Conte satisfied with performance

Despite the defeat, Conte admitted he was happy with how his side performed given the issues surrounding the squad.

“For sure the performance was good. We are managing a situation with many, many injuries and we need to find new solutions,” he said.

“I repeat about the performance, I am really happy for what I have seen. Our fans despite the defeat, they have to enjoy the game for the will, the desire, for how we played the game.

“We did well with the game plan that we prepared but now we are talking about a bad defeat. I don’t know if it’s positive to win badly or to lose playing well but we lost the game.”