1 year ago
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29 min Pedro Porro tries to change the mood by shooting from inside his own half. It doesn’t have the legs and Alisson nonchalantly controls it on the chest.
29 min Kane makes a mess of a one on one, trying and failing to find Son to his left, though he was subsequently flagged offside.
26 min “Arsenal fan here,” says Harry Christie. “I’d like to thank Spurs (and Chelsea) for their commitment to neighbourly support in this trying time.”
I wonder when all three were in quite such wretched form.
24 min The game in miniature. Kane dithers for ages, 35 yards from his own goal, and has his pocket picked by Salah. The home fans loved that, because Kane had no idea Salah was behind him.
22 min Salah, with no backlift, curls a few yards wide from the edge of the area. Liverpool haven’t even had to play that well – this has not been one of those ferocious, overwhelming Liverpool performances.
22 min “Alex (17 min) has a point,” says Joe Pearson. “I spent almost 40 years with one company when I could have probably done better for myself by being a bit more mercenary. Inertia is quite powerful. The devil you know, and all that.”
I wouldn’t kn-oh.
21 min A rare Spurs attack ends with Son crossing too close to Alisson.
21 min “This is a classic example of a team that has packed it in and is thinking more about off-season golf instead of football,” says Mary Waltz. “Sad.”
20 min Imagine the expression on Antonio Conte’s face as he considers this scoreline.
18 min Gakpo’s shot hits Davies and spins behind for a corner. Spurs
17 min “So,” says Alex Whitney, “let’s make a (brief) list of reasons for Kane to stay at this shambles erm I mean Spurs past this summer:
Inertia
...
“Welcoming additions from MBMers and pedants.”
16 min Some Spurs fans have already buggered off. In the first quarter of their last two away games, Spurs have conceded nine goals. In 38 minutes.
16 min “Howdy Rob,” writes Niall Mullen. “I’ll tell you what, Trent and Curtis Jones are like two new midfield signings. Probably no need for any incomings in the summer. Yours, J Henry, Boston (MA).”
GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Spurs (Salah 15 pen)
Mo Salah has missed his last two penalties – but there’s relatively little pressure on this one, and he curls it nonchalantly down the middle. That’s his 184th goal in 300 games.
Oh good lord. Gakpo collects a loose ball just inside the area and is wiped out by Romero. An absurd lunge and a clear penalty.
14 min: PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!
13 min “Say what you like about Spurs,” says Phil Moseley, “but they are the only club you can watch for free if you travel to their away games.”
12 min Elliott slides a fine pass through to Gakpo in the area. He tries to chop back inside Romero and is well challenged. But this is pretty wretched from Spurs.
11 min That was Trent Alexander-Arnold’s sixth assist in April. Crikey.
10 min Liverpool have multiple problems but a forward line ain’t one. When all five are fit, Jurgen Klopp has so many brilliant options.
9 min “Conte was 100 per cent when he said the players and organisation are to blame for the state of Spurs,” says Jeff Sax. “No manager will change that.”
7 min “Afternoon, Bobby!” says Ian Copestake. “Am listening via the media of radio, like the wireless? Loving the atmosphere. Long live old technologies!”
Tell it to a carrier pigeon mate.
Luis Diaz has scored on his first start since October. It was far too easy for Liverpool, even if it was a brilliant finish. Salah played in the underlapping Gakpo, who cut the ball back towards Diaz at the near post. The ball was slightly behind him, but he improvised brilliantly – with both feet of the ground – to crack a volley to the left of Forster.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Spurs (Diaz 5)
Lads. LADS!
Curtis Jones has volleyed Liverpool ahead inside three minutes. It was made by Trent Alexander-Arnold, who wandered over to the inside-right channel and curled a languid first-time cross beyond the far post. Jones, peculiarly unmarked, sidefooted a crisp half volley past Forster from six yards.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Spurs (Jones 3)
That didn’t take long.
1 min Peep peep! Dejan Kulusevski has the first kick of the game.
It’s a big day for Mo Salah, who plays his 300th game for Liverpool. That 3-3 draw at Watford can’t be six years ago, surely.
“Spurs’ chance of a top-four finish was over when they drew with Everton after being up against 10 men,” says Yash Gupta. “That match was also the end of Stellini and Conte (who had gone but remained through his staff) and Lucas Moura. Nothing this season has baffled more than Lucas Moura, out of contract in the summer, getting picked ahead of Danjuma and before that Bryan Gil, who really started to play well before being shipped off.”
Match report: Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa
Lads. LADS!
Match report: Newcastle 3-1 Southampton
Our Trent has an exciting new project, and I don’t mean moonlighting in central midfield.
Premier League results (2pm games)
Bournemouth 4-1 Leeds
Fulham 1-2 Man City
Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa
Newcastle 3-1 Southampton
The bad news for Liverpool and Spurs is that Newcastle and Manchester United won, so Champions League qualification looks even more unlikely than it did this morning. The good news is that Aston Villa lost, so one of these teams will be fifth in the table at sundown.
Oh, just one more thing: Manchester City have gone top of the league.
Thirteen Premier League starts, six goals: he’s doing pretty well.
Spurs’ last six away results: 1-6, 1-1, 3-3, 0-1, 0-1, 0-1, 1-4
Team news: Jota, Richarlison on the bench.
Three changes for Liverpool. Ibrahima Konate, Harvey Elliott and Luis Diaz replace Joel Matip, Jordan Henderson and Diogo Jota, who are all on the bench.
And two changes for Spurs. Ben Davies and Dejan Kulusevski come in for Clement Lenglet and Richarlison, who are also among the subs.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, Fabinho, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Gomez, Milner, Henderson, Jota, Tsimikas, Nunez, Carvalho, Matip.
Spurs (5-2-3) Forster; Porro, Romero, Dier, Davies, Perisic; Hojbjerg, Skipp; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
Substitutes: Danjuma, Austin, Sanchez, Tanganga, Lenglet, Sarr, Devine, Lucas, Richarlison.
Referee Paul Tierney.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. When these two met at Anfield a year ago, the Premier League title and Champions League qualification were at stake, and a fascinating 1-1 draw may have ultimately cost Liverpool the championship.
This year, the stakes are more modest. There’s an outside chance of a top-four finish – and they each have an encouraging precedent in the last two seasons – but one team would probably need to win every remaining game. A Europa League place, awarded to those who come fifth and sixth, is a more realistic target.
Liverpool have won their last three matches, and another victory today would move them above Spurs for the first time in this peculiar season*. Spurs have lost eight points, a manager and a fair bit of dignity in their last three games, though they recovered well to draw with Manchester United on Thursday.
Logic says Liverpool will win a high-scoring game. These two haven’t really dealt in logic this season, have they.
Kick off 4.30pm.
* I think
English (US)