Pr
 
 
 
 
OPPONENTS Liverpool at Anfield
COMPETITION Premier League 
DATE Sunday 31st March 2019
PREVIEW No preview prepared.
 
PREDICTION Liverpool    1        Tottenham Hotspur    1
 
 
Li
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Premier League Kick off 15:00
 
Liverpool  2 (1)  
 
Tottenham Hotspur  1 (0)
 
 
Goal-scorers

Firmino  15m 22s
Alderweireld (o.g.)  89m 27s

 

Moura  69m 18s

 
Crowd :   53,332 Weather :  Mild
Referee : Martin Atkinson (South Yorkshire) Assistant Referees :  Mr. Stephen Child; Mr. Lee Betts
Fourth Official :  Stuart Attwell  
Spurs  kicked off and played towards the Kop end in the first half.
Game time : -  90 + 5 minutes.
 
Cards  
    
None 

    

    
Moura (foul on Salah)  80 

    
 

 
 
 
Liverpool : kit Tottenham Hotspur : kit
13  ALLISON

66  Trent ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
32  Joel MATIP
 
4  Virgil van DIJK
26  Andrew ROBERTSON

  5  Georginio WIJNALDUM
14  Jordan HENDERSON  (27  Divock ORIGI  77)
  7
  James MILNER  (  3  FABINHO  77)

10  Sadio MANE
11  Mohamed SALAH  (  6  Dejan LOVREN)

  9  Roberto FIRMINO 

Unused subs: 
22
  Simon MIGNOLET
23  Xherdan SHAQIRI
20  Adam LALLANA
  8  Naby KEITA

 

    1  Hugo LLORIS  (c)

  2  Kieran TRIPPIER
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN
  6  Davinson SANCHEZ  (  7  Heung-Min SON  69)
  4
 
Toby ALDERWEIRELD 

17  Moussa SISSOKO 
  3  Danny ROSE

27  Lucas MOURA         (33  Ben DAVIES  82)
20  DELE Alli
23
 
Christian ERIKSEN  (18  Fernando LLORENTE  90+1)

10  Harry KANE

Unused subs: 
2
2  Paulo GAZZANIGA
2
1  Juan FOYTH
12
  Victor WANYAMA
52  Oliver SKIPP

 
Manager :  Jurgen Klopp Manager :  Mauricio Pochettino
Sponsor :   Standard Chartered Shirt sponsor :  AIA
Kit Supplier :  New Balance Kit Supplier :   Nike
Match report

A late, late error from Hugo Lloris handed the points to Liverpool in a second half that saw Tottenham take the game to the home side and make them look less than average.  Having gifted the home side two goals, Spurs did not have enough attacking endeavour of accuracy to force Allison into much meaningful action and the need to create good openings and work the keeper is costing us at the moment.

Early on, both keepers had dodgy moment. Allison spilled a through ball by Kane aimed at Dele, but Alexander-Arnold was there to clear into touch.  Lloris cleared the ball straight to a red shirt and thankfully, Salah decided to shoot and well over too. Matip slipped over leaving Christian Eriksen to slip a pass into the box for Lucas Moura, but Alexander-Arnold got a foot in for a corner. Spurs were working the ball well through midfield, but the final pass lacked a bit of precision, so when a pass reached Moura in the box, he had to take a touch before shooting and he was closed down.  With their first effort on goal, Liverpool went ahead. Lloris kicked out to a red head 40 yards out on our left. It was switched to the Spurs right and Robertson was in a lot of space, allowing him to put a cross into the centre of the penalty area, where Firmino had got away from Sanchez to have a free header which he stuck past Hugo to the keeper’s left from six yards out.

Spurs were a little unsettled by the goal and the home full backs pushed on to try and create for Liverpool, with Mane putting a shot wide from the edge of the box and then Sanchez making a perfectly timed tackle on Salah in the box, as he lined up a shot on goal. Tottenham were treating the ball like a hot potato, as they played in tight situations, but a forward ball by Danny Rose almost unpicked the Reds’ defence with Allison coming for it, but it was outside the box. As Dele was running in, Milner went for it and the keeper couldn’t handle it, with the ball hitting him on the head and then fortunately dropping behind him in the box to allow him to pick it up as he was facing that way.

Liverpool hit the outside of the post direct from a corner and then Spurs attacked with Rose’s low ball into the goalmouth, curling away from the keeper saw Lucas just fail to make contact, with Robertson holding him at bay. When the ball was played up to Harry Kane, he was getting muscled off the ball by van Dijk, but just after the hour, Henderson gave the ball away when Moura intercepted and it was worked through Dele and Eriksen for the England midfielder to fire at goal from 20 yards, but it was a foot too high.

Tottenham escaped conceding a second goal when Mane was free just inside the D and shaped a shot around Trippier, but also narrowly wide of Lloris’ left hand post. Lucas Moura was busy and dragged a 20-yard shot wide although Eriksen was slow on the ball when in advanced positions, leading to Spurs turning away from the Liverpool goal or his passes were failing to find their target.

After half-time, Spurs started a little more lively, building on the good end to the first. However, sleeping at a short corner routine, Milner’s cross provided a header for van Dijk at the far post, but he put it over. Firmino did the same, before the Brazilian wanted a foul by Sanchez when he failed to control the long ball through that had bounced over Davinson’s head. Spurs suddenly launched an attack that saw Rose’s ball in from wide on the left reach Kane and he swept a shot across Allison like the one he scored with at the same end a couple of years ago, but the keeper pushed it out to about 12 yards out, where Eriksen had to rush his shot that was blocked for a corner by Robertson. When nothing came from the corner, Salah broke through the middle and Alderweireld managed to block his shot (when a pass to Mane might have been the better option) and then Henderson’s follow-up was blocked too.  Tottenham’s delivery in from wide was poor and the men in the middle were left with little to feed off. Pochettino had switched to a back three with Vertonghen moving to left of the three, while Rose went into midfield. This provided a bit more pressure on Liverpool a bit further up the pitch.

Just after Sissoko had got a good foot in on van Dijk in the Spurs box to win a goal-kick, as Spurs tried to play it out, they lost possession and Salah smashed another effort at goal, but missed.  The game changed when a quick free-kick taken by Kane on the left, switched play right to Trippier, who had some space. He took the ball down and played it to Eriksen, who scuffed his shot, but the ball ran in front of Lucas Moura, who snuck in behind him and swept it over Allison from just inside the six-yard box. It was a smart move that caught Liverpool cold, with Henderson too interested in expressing his frustration rather than switching on to play the game. Moura’s performance had deserved a goal.

In the 75th minute, Alexander-Arnold mis-hit a cross that Hugo had to fingertip over the bar and three minutes later, a corner dropped in the six-yard box for Firmino, but it hit him rather than him getting a contact on it, with Lloris pouncing on the ball in front of the line. A free-kick to Liverpool in the next minute, some 25 yards out, was taken by Origi and it came off Kane in the wall as it broke and deflected just wide. Corner followed corner, but the last one went too long and off for a goal-kick.

The knowledgeable Liverpool crowd were showing their in depth understanding of the game by howling for anything that looked like a Spurs player going near a red shirt and they had booed Kane all afternoon, because he scores lots of goals !! They even gave the referee a prolonged round of boos when a Liverpool player kicked it straight at him. What they would have done had Sissoko converted when Kane played a great ball right to Son, whose first-time ball set Moussa away, I don’t know. Running to his left, with van Dijk protecting the square pass to Son, Sissoko was forced to shoot and the ball rose up over the bar. Rose also lifted one over the top when he was in space and Kane was too, but Danny failed to find him.

Dele came closer when he curled a shot from the left-hand side of the D of the box and it went narrowly wide with Allison nowhere. As it was, a cross from Robertson hung up to the far post, allowed Salah to head across the goalmouth and Lloris decided to try and pushed it into Toby and the ball trickled over the line to hand a last-minute goal to the home side. With four extra minutes to be played, the Liverpool supporters were whistling for the referee to blow as soon as it crept past 90. Desperation from the players too, with them kicking the ball away to waste every second they could.

A late free-kick should have given Spurs a last opportunity, but it found a red head and that was it.  Spurs dominated the second half and Liverpool looked as sluggish as Tottenham had in the first half. If they are going to win games like this, then their name is probably on the League trophy. Luck was on their side a fair bit and they didn’t play great, but ended up with three points, so as far as they are concerned, it doesn’t matter how they get them.

One of my work colleagues dislikes Liverpool as he believes that their fans have the greatest sense of entitlement in the country. Personally, I don’t want them to win anything, as Klopp had the extreme arrogance last season to say that West Brom’s point at Anfield last season was a point that they didn’t need. Implying that they should have rolled over for Liverpool showed an arrogance that was above and beyond what even the stereotypical German would exhibit.

Maybe someone will stop them, but if they have this much luck left in their last few games, there isn't much anyone can do.  However, there is still a long way to go and a long way to go for Spurs, who must improve on their poor record against the other sides in the top six.

Sparky Marky

 
 
 
Match facts

This was Harry Kane's 250th Spurs appearance.

Alderweireld’s own goal was Liverpool’s 400th goal under Klopp.
 

 
 
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What you thought
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Other scores during this week :
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Southampton 1 Saturday
Burnley 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Saturday
Crystal Palace 2 Huddersfield Town 0 Saturday
Fulham 0 Manchester City 2 Saturday
Leicester City 2 Bournemouth 0 Saturday
Manchester United 2 Watford 1 Saturday
West Ham United London 0 Everton 2 Saturday
Cardiff City 1 Chelsea 2 Sunday
Arsenal 2 Newcastle United 0 Monday

   

 

League Table  2018-19
  P W D L F A Pts GD
1 Liverpool 32 24 7 1 72 19 79 +53
2 Manchester City 31 25 2 4 81 21 77 +60
3 Arsenal 31 19 6 6 65 39 63 +26
4 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 31 20 1 10 58 34 61 +24
5 Manchester United 31 18 7 6 60 41 61 +19
6 Chelsea 31 18 6 7 52 34 60 +18
7 Wolverhampton Wanderers 31 12 8 11 38 38 44 0
8 Leicester City 32 13 5 14 42 43 44 -1
9 Everton 31 12 7 13 45 42 43 +3
10 Watford 31 12 7 12 43 46 43 -3
11 West Ham United London 32 12 6 14 41 48 42 -7
12 Bournemouth 32 11 5 16 43 58 38 -15
13 Crystal Palace 31 10 6 15 38 41 36 -3
14 Newcastle United 32 9 8 15 31 42 35 -11
15 Brighton & Hove Albion 30 9 6 15 32 43 33 -11
16 Southampton 31 8 9 14 35 50 33 -15
17 Burnley 32 9 6 17 37 59 33 -22
18 Cardiff City 31 8 4 19 28 59 28 -31
19 Fulham 32 4 5 22 29 72 17 -43
20 Huddersfield Town 32 3 5 24 18 59 14 -41

 

Position before match :  3rd
Position after match :  3rd
Position after the weekend :  4th

 

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