Stats don't necessarily mean everything in football, and whether or not a team had more possession or shots on target, doesn't mean they were better than the others.
That seems to be Jose Mourinho's argument for Tottenham's 1-2 loss at Anfield.
The Spurs dropped their second game of the Premier League season against Liverpool on the road, but the Portuguese manager stated that they were the better team on the pitch.
"The better team lost tonight." Mourinho told Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp following the game's final whistle.
"I told him the best team lost..."
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 16, 2020
"He disagreed, but that's his opinion!"
Jose Mourinho's post-match thoughts, including his view of the conversation with Jurgen Klopp at full-time...#PLonPrime #LIVTOT pic.twitter.com/L9Lu2N6tMS
Real Chances?
Liverpool had 76% of the possession throughout the game and 17 shots. However, according to 'OPTA' Spurs had four big-chances in the game against zero by the reds.
Opta-defined ‘big chances’ in tonight’s game: Liverpool 0-4 Spurs. Textbook smash and grab from Klopp’s boys...? pic.twitter.com/7X9z0s64VW
— James Maw (@JamesTMaw) December 16, 2020
"I think even a draw would have left us with not the best taste because we had them there to win it," Mourinho added. "Steven (Bergwijn) has two face to face with the keeper, we have the corner of Harry [Kane] with the free header, we had other counter-attacking situations that we didn't finish.
We had it, we knew how to hurt and we should do much more than we did."
Despite traveling back to North London with an empty pocket, Tottenham keeps proving why they should be considered a title contender.
With this defeat, Spurs trail Liverpool by three points in the Premier League title race. They'll face each other again January 28th at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.