Eventful Encounter Sees Spurs Draw with Liverpool

Thursday 19th December 2021

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 2 Liverpool

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Good to see Spurs back in action after their last three matches were postponed due to COVID.

It's still up in the air as to who's available and how much time Conte has had to work with his team during the disruption. Liverpool have been on fire of late, but we're a capable side if we put in a good performance.

I fear they're too strong for us at the moment and can see them beating us 2-1."

It was an eye-catching line-up with midfield staples Skipp and Højbjerg missing. Skipp was on the bench but Højbjerg was out ill. Ndombele, Alli and Winks all started and had big points to prove. Reguilón was out of the side too as Sessegnon was handed another chance. The big Liverpool team news was that Van Dijk was out.

10' Alexander-Arnold was first to have a shot – a real piledriver from the edge of the area that Lloris dived to his right and double punched behind for a corner.

12' First sight of goal for Spurs as Winks passed to Ndombele who laid it out wide to Royal, he threw a couple of step-overs before crossing low into Kane around six yards out. He dug it out of his feet and attempted to squeeze the finish home but Konate was there to block it.

13' The crowd had livened up and loved seeing a brilliant sliding challenge from Winks to win back possession around halfway. Again he gave it to Ndombele and he wasted no time in expertly sliding through Kane who'd beaten the offside trap and slotted first time across Alisson into the bottom corner like the Harry Kane of old. 1-0.

16' Spurs kept coming and this time Kane broke forward on the counter and clipped it square to Son in the box who had to slide to reach it and as a result could only shin the bouncing ball wide.

19' Kane looked really up for the occasion and while hounding down the ball in the Liverpool backline he flew into a sliding challenge and caught the leg of Robinson. On reflection he was lucky to only see yellow.

30' Winks clipped it forward and found Son, he squeezed it over to Dele who seemingly had a simple finish in front of goal but his side-footed effort was wide of the right post. A replay revealed it was in fact an excellent fingertip save from Alisson.

35' Robinson picked out Mane who'd snuck down the side in behind Sánchez and got a cross over which Ben Davies cut out with a heavy touch. He tried to follow it up but lost out to an incoming Robinson who chipped it up for Jota to head down into the bottom corner from close range. 1-1.

37' Royal got away with one after clattering into the back of Jota as he was about to unleash a shot from six yards. VAR had a look at it but thankfully nothing was given.

43' Lloris batted a cross clear then saved well with his legs from an Alexander-Arnold half volley.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Dele, Winks and Ndombele have all been bright. Liverpool grew into the game and looked the stronger of the two sides closing in on half time. Spurs have created some clear cut chances though; we could have had 2 or 3. It's all to play for in the second half."

52' A clumsy challenge by Matip on Winks could have resulted in a penalty but again the ref said no. It evened things up after Royal's heart in mouth moment in the first half.

55' A sumptuous long ball from Dier caught Liverpool's backline completely square and found Dele in behind in the box. He attempted to knock it across to Kane first time but he somewhat scuffed it with his left foot and as Kane tried to stub it home Alisson came sprawling across to save. It was another great chance squandered.

56' The resulting corner led to yet another as it flashed across the six-yard box after being flicked on at the near post by Davies then by the outstretched leg of a Liverpool defender before ending up on the forehead of Kane just a few yards out, it was too fast for him though and he couldn't get his reactionary header down under the crossbar.

64' Ndombele made way for Skipp.

69' Alli crept in behind the backline again and went looking for a penalty. He'd gone down too easily and the ref wasn't interested. Liverpool went up the other end and a Jota cross deflected off Sánchez and was met by Salah trying to head it in at the far post. It bundled off his arm and was clawed away by Lloris but fell to Alexander-Arnold who laced it across goal where Robinson stooped down by the boot of Royal and headed into an open net. The Spurs players were incensed, hoping for a handball. The goal stood. 1-2.

73' An immediate response from Spurs – Winks slotted it through to Son who'd evaded the offside trap and raced to beat Alisson as he slid out to smother. In a moment of misjudgement the ball slipped between his legs and was nudged into the path of Son who'd kept up chase and suddenly found an open goal before him that he passed into with his left foot. 2-2.

76' Temperatures flared as Robinson lashed out at Royal over by the sideline and it led to a scuffle. A yellow card was shown but VAR intervened and highlighted how he'd lost his temper and let fly on Royal. The ref went to the screen and changed the yellow to a red. Liverpool were reduced to ten, could Spurs push on and win it?

80' Dele departed for Moura. He was disappointed to see his number up, but his performance was rewarded by the home support singing his song. They appreciated the shift he'd put in.

86' The final chance saw Son lay in Davies who'd bundled his way forward and found himself with a good chance in front of goal, he opted to square it rather than shoot and it was cleared away.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – An action packed encounter that ended with a point a piece. We remain unbeaten under Conte in the league and the fact some will feel we should have won it in the end highlights how many positives there are to take from this performance. Winks and Dele did surprisingly well, Sessegnon was good too. The amount of chances we managed to create against a top side is hugely encouraging, and hopefully we can find the net a bit better against West Ham on Wednesday."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 7.5 – Made a few good saves and couldn’t have done much about the goals conceded.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 6.5 – Struggled defensively on occasion. Fortunate not to concede a penalty. Got himself in some good positions down the right but his delivery was lacking quality.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 7 – An up and down game for him as he had both good and bad moments. Made an excellent sliding tackle in his own box at one point to halt a dangerous Liverpool attack. Allowed Mane in on goal on another that luckily he didn't capitalise on. More ups than downs on the whole.

• 15. Eric Dier – 7.5 – Looked strong again. He's being used as the ball player out of the back now, and although he gave it away a couple of times, he struck a peach of a pass over the top to Dele in the second half and another to Sessegnon. Won a few important headers too.

• 33. Ben Davies – 7 – Lacked composure in front of goal at the end. Did well doubling-up against Salah. Cut out some crucial passes and generally made good use of the ball when he had it.

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon – 8 – Made some key tackles and interceptions. Also did well against Salah and put a shift in getting up and down that left side.

• 28. Tanguy Ndombele – 6.5 – Kept finding Royal out on the right. Laid a lovely assist for Kane's goal. Drifted out of the game in the second half.

• 8. Harry Winks – 8.5 – Massively encouraging performance from the man we all wanted out. He won the ball back brilliantly a few times in midfield and provided the assist for Son's equaliser. Still gave away a couple of passes but much tidier from him on the whole.

• 20. Dele Alli – 8 – Showed the intensity that supporters love to see as he chased down the ball and got stuck in. Showed some good touches but had he been better in front of goal we would have scored more. Still, much, much better from him.

• 10. Harry Kane – 7.5 – On reflection he was lucky not to see red for his challenge on Robinson in the first half. Looked lively throughout and his goal demonstrated how he's growing in sharpness.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 7.5 – Quiet at times but kept running and it resulted in him getting on the scoresheet again.

Substitutions:

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon <-- 64' --> 29. Oliver Skipp – 6.5 – Came on and kept things ticking over in midfield.

• 20. Dele Alli <-- 81' --> 27. Lucas Moura – N/A – Didn’t get very involved.

• 19. Ryan Sessegnon <-- 86' --> 3. Sergio Reguilón – N/A – Had little chance to make an impact.

Man of the Match – 8. Harry Winks