"Newcastle United are already doing everything they can defensively. What more do you expect them to do?"
"But it's now 3-0. The second half has barely begun, and Leo has scored from a free kick to take his Premier League tally for the season to ten."
"I wonder what Salah, who also started today, is thinking. The advantage he built up over more than a dozen Premier League matches has almost completely disappeared since Leo returned."
"Tottenham lost to Manchester City in their last match, and Kane didn't score either. So after 18 matches, Kane still leads the scoring charts with 12 goals, but Leo is already up to 10!"
The defensive system Eddie Howe had devised for Newcastle was the same one he had used at Bournemouth, and it had worked extremely well there.
The gaps between Newcastle's midfielders and defenders were kept very tight, giving every player the time and opportunity to help a teammate whenever Liverpool's attackers threatened.
But in this match, Gakpo and Salah were cutting inside from opposite wings. Combined with Núñez's constant runs and Leo pushing forward to offer support, the approach was proving extremely effective.
The broadcast occasionally cut to Diaz on the bench.
Diaz had previously been a regular starter for Liverpool, but Gakpo had been signed specifically to play on the wing.
And there was no realistic way Gakpo was going to displace Salah on the right, which meant the only position he could seriously challenge for was Diaz's place on the left.
In the 62nd minute, Klopp took Leo off and brought on Szoboszlai. At the same time, Ødegaard replaced Rodri, with Mac Allister dropping into the defensive midfield role.
Ødegaard and Szoboszlai formed the midfield pairing.
Even with Rodri and Leo off the pitch, the players Liverpool brought on were still more than capable of starting for other top Premier League clubs.
Newcastle eventually conceded another goal to Szoboszlai and lost 4-0 in Premier League Matchweek 18.
Klopp had something else to deal with afterward, so he simply sent Leo to the post-match press conference alone to answer questions in his roles as both team captain and coach.
Sitting by himself in front of all the reporters, Leo had only one hope.
That they wouldn't ask too many questions.
"Leo, competition for the left-wing position seems pretty intense right now. Szoboszlai can play there, and so can Gakpo and Diaz."
"Szoboszlai has also said in an earlier interview that as long as he gets to play, he's willing to play anywhere."
"Based on the last few matches, who do you think deserves to start at left wing right now?"
Leo hadn't expected that question.
Wasn't deciding who started supposed to be the manager's job?
"Who should start?"
"You should ask Klopp. Why are you asking me? I don't get to decide which of those three starts. If I did, I might as well put myself at left wing."
The reporter laughed before following up.
"Aren't there a lot of fans who think you've been choosing Liverpool's starting lineup lately?"
Leo laughed too.
"Did those fans also tell you that the entire Premier League belongs to me and that I own every club in it?"
"Before every Premier League match, I pick the lineups for all the teams. Then I log into the Premier League's account and post them."
The surrounding reporters burst out laughing.
Leo had never imagined anyone would actually believe something like that.
The second reporter's question nearly made him laugh again.
"Leo, there are rumors that Firmino is planning to divorce Vivian. Is that true?"
Leo didn't particularly want to answer on Firmino's behalf.
But Firmino was currently playing in Saudi Arabia, so Premier League reporters were unlikely to get an interview with him anytime soon, and he probably wouldn't be able to respond immediately either.
So Leo decided to answer for him.
"If Firmino ever dares to divorce Vivian, you'll see the toughest woman in the world, a woman named Delores, fly to Saudi Arabia."
"And after that, Saudi Arabia won't have a player named Firmino anymore."
That was exactly why reporters enjoyed interviewing Leo.
Even when they couldn't get anything useful out of him, they at least had a good time talking to him.
But one manager watching Leo's interview at that moment wasn't laughing at all.
Conte had only been Tottenham's head coach for a month, and he was already preparing for Premier League Matchweek 19 a few days later.
Conte hadn't slept properly for days.
Not once.
Every time he thought about Leo, heard his name, or saw a news story about him, insomnia immediately set in.
"Honey, I warmed up some red wine for you and added a few slices of lemon. Drink it while it's hot. You'll definitely sleep well tonight!"
Conte's loving and attentive wife placed the hot wine in front of him.
When she looked up, she happened to see Leo being interviewed on the screen.
"Isn't that Leo, Liverpool's captain?"
The moment Conte heard those words, the hot wine that was supposed to help him sleep suddenly felt more like a stimulant.
After gulping some down, Conte went straight to the kitchen and brought the entire pot of freshly heated red wine back with him.
"I'm not sleeping tonight, honey. You go ahead."
"I'm going to watch some more of Leo's matches."
"There's no way I can sleep."
As Tottenham's newly appointed head coach, Conte had felt the pressure almost from the moment he arrived.
The club chairman's spending didn't match his ambitions. He invested relatively little while still expecting the team to produce better results.
Tottenham currently had a chance of breaking into the top four, so Conte naturally wanted points from their Premier League Matchweek 19 clash with Liverpool.
Preferably all three.
But Tottenham's starting lineup didn't exactly make that ambition obvious.
Conte set his team up in a 5-3-2, with Kane and Son Heung-min together up front.
January 2, Premier League Matchweek 19, Anfield.
"Tottenham are lining up in a 5-3-2 today, with Lloris in goal."
"Defenders: Sessegnon, Ben Davies, Dier, Davinson Sánchez, Emerson."
"Midfielders: Alli, Winks, Ndombele!"
"Up front: Kane and Son Heung-min."
"Compared with the previous match, Klopp has started Szoboszlai on the left wing today, while the midfield remains unchanged."
"The center-back pairing is now Konaté and Gvardiol. Alexander-Arnold starts at right back, while Van Dijk is not in the starting lineup."
Klopp had been constantly adjusting and experimenting with his center-back combinations.
Both Gvardiol and Konaté were more than capable defenders.
Several of Liverpool's outstanding midfielders had also gone some time without starting, including Ødegaard and Gravenberch.
That was why Klopp had chosen to start Szoboszlai on the left wing for this match.
With so many star players packed into one squad, only eleven of them could start at a time.
Klopp could only do his best to give everyone the playing time they wanted.
As for those who couldn't consistently make the starting lineup, Leo did everything he could as captain to support them.
That was one of the reasons the atmosphere inside Liverpool's squad had remained so stable.