Liverpool v Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened
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Version 0 of 1. 9.54pm GMT21:54 FULL TIME: Liverpool 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur And that’s that! The whistle blows on a superlative match. Whether Tottenham deserved to lose is a moot point - they contributed so much to the occasion - but Liverpool won, playing very well themselves. And it was Mario Balotelli - who else? - who decided a madcap evening. Marvellous entertainment, and Liverpool have hauled themselves back into the race for fourth. Balotelli, after such a frustrating start to his Liverpool career, could be forgiven for skittering all round Anfield to celebrate such an important goal, but opts to wander off calmly, like a man popping out to the shops for 20 Bensons and a pint of milk. Magnificent. Updated at 10.02pm GMT 9.53pm GMT21:53 90 min +4: A throw for Spurs down the right. It’s hoicked into the Liverpool area, but cleared upfield. 9.52pm GMT21:52 90 min +3: Sakho is down, getting a bit of treatment after being clattered by Kane. Skrtel and Kane spoil for a fight. Kane is booked. Spurs don’t have time for this nonsense. 9.51pm GMT21:51 90 min +2: The free kick is witlessly blootered out of play on the right. Liverpool watch another 60 seconds float into the ether. 9.50pm GMT21:50 90 min +1: A free kick for Spurs, deep on the left. The visitors load the box. 9.49pm GMT21:49 90 min: Can goes on another power dribble down the middle. He attempts a shot from the edge of the D. It’s so bad it’s going out for a throw on the right, but Balotelli stops it from leaving the field of play with a needlessly elaborate (but very aesthetically pleasing) back heel. Liverpool tippy-tap it around for a bit, hoping to waste time. But they lose it soon enough, and there’s going to be four minutes of added time. Can Spurs grab a share of the spoils? You couldn’t say they didn’t deserve it, if they do. 9.47pm GMT21:47 88 min: Coutinho is bouncing, too. On the floor, shoved unceremoniously to the ground by Paulinho, who goes in the book. 9.46pm GMT21:46 87 min: Plenty of time for Spurs to salvage something, of course, especially in this febrile atmosphere. Coutinho is penalised for clanking into the back of Lamela. Spurs lump the free kick long for Kane, but the young star can’t quite get anything going. Anfield is bouncing and rocking. 9.44pm GMT21:44 86 min: That was a very well-worked goal by Liverpool. Ibe really does look a player, blessed with skill and pace, but perhaps more importantly smart and calm. A clever one-two with Lallana to release his team-mate into the area. 9.43pm GMT21:43 85 min: Tottenham react to falling behind by sending on Soldado, who replaces Dembele. 9.43pm GMT21:43 MARIO BALOTELLI SCORES A LEAGUE GOAL FOR LIVERPOOL! Liverpool 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Balotelli 83) Lallana slides the ball out wide right to Ibe, who draws his man before sliding a pass back to his team-mate. Lallana strides into the area, and fires a low cross into the six-yard box, where Balotelli batters home from close range! Anfield erupts. Balotelli barely raises an eyebrow. You know how he rolls. Updated at 9.52pm GMT 9.40pm GMT21:40 82 min: These two teams appear a little bit tired now. No wonder. 9.40pm GMT21:40 81 min: Eriksen is replaced by Chadli. 9.39pm GMT21:39 80 min: Dembele rolls a pass wide right for Kane, who from the corner of the penalty area looks for the bottom left! He’s nothing if not confident. This one’s dragged across the face of goal and out for a goal kick, though. 9.37pm GMT21:37 79 min: The corner is a thundering non-event. 9.37pm GMT21:37 78 min: Moreno, in a thicket down the left, whips a crossfield pass to Ibe, who makes off down the wing before one-twoing with Balotelli and winning a corner. Before the set piece can be taken, Markovic is replaced by Lallana. “Rose’s flank attacks in the Arsenal game were excellent,” argues Will Oliver. “He was worth a place on that day.” 9.35pm GMT21:35 76 min: It’s been a high-octane affair, this. But some of the sting is drawn from the atmosphere, as Walker is down getting a spot of treatment. It’s pretty much the first stoppage of the evening! 9.33pm GMT21:33 74 min: Sturridge is replaced by Balotelli. As if this game wasn’t freeform enough already. 9.32pm GMT21:32 73 min: Can goes on a Beckenbaueresque strut down the middle of the park, before sashaying off to the left wing. He’s got the beating of Walker, who brings him down and leaves a sly foot in. It’s only a yellow. 9.29pm GMT21:29 70 min: Coutinho strokes another ball down the left channel, this time for Moreno. The full back whistles a shot towards the bottom-left corner, but Lloris is behind that one. “If it saves you some time, you don’t need to add ‘despite Liverpool looking a little light at the back’,” suggests Matt Dony. “We’ll just assume that’s the case unless told otherwise.” 9.27pm GMT21:27 69 min: A change for each side. Gerrard departs for Lovren, while Mason is sacrificed for Paulinho. 9.27pm GMT21:27 67 min: Coutinho rolls a lovely ball towards Sturridge, down the inside left. Just as the striker cocks his leg to shoot, Dier comes in to execute a perfect slide tackle. Anfield screams for a penalty, but the correct decision is a corner. Henderson’s delivery isn’t up to much. 9.25pm GMT21:25 65 min: Ibe embarks on a baroque ramble down the right, then inside, as he makes for the area. He lays off to Markovic, who miscontrols. Spurs flood upfield but can’t quite get it together, despite Liverpool looking a little light at the back. This is like a cup tie. 9.22pm GMT21:22 64 min: Dembele is booked for a nothing challenge on Moreno in the middle of the park. Quite a few bookings so far, and to be honest, it’s not been a nasty game. “For all the excellent progress being made under Pochettino, week in week out I struggle to see why Danny Rose makes it into the team ahead of Davies,” sighs Peter Crosby. “Looked dodgy first half and a stupid challenge like that seemed like an inevitability.” 9.22pm GMT21:22 63 min: An equaliser is nothing more than Spurs deserve. Markovic romps into space down the right, but his attempt to finds Moreno at the far post is neither one thing or the other. 9.21pm GMT21:21 GOAL! Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Dembele 61) Gerrard’s poor challenge costs Liverpool. Eriksen whips a gorgeous free kick towards the top left. Mignolet parries brilliantly, but only to Kane, to the left of goal. Kane zips a ball into the middle, allowing Dembele to chest home from a couple of yards. Mignolet is livid, claiming Kane was offside. And he might have been, by an inch or two. But you can’t be giving offside for that. Benefit of doubt to the attacker, see. Updated at 9.40pm GMT 9.19pm GMT21:19 60 min: Spurs have been the better team since the restart, despite falling behind. They press Liverpool back, panicking Gerrard into a late slide on Kane. That’s a free kick, 25 yards out, just to the left of goal, and a deserved booking for Gerrard. 9.17pm GMT21:17 57 min: Spurs come straight back at Liverpool, through Lamela down the right. Liverpool look wide open, but Lamela hesitates, and Kane is forced to settle for the corner. From the set piece on the right, another corner’s won on the left. Mignolet punches that one clear. Dier attempts to volley a return, and just about sources the Kop. A sorry end, but Tottenham were looking extremely dangerous there. This is a great end-to-end game, and it’ll be quite a surprise if it ends 2-1. 9.15pm GMT21:15 56 min: Sturridge should release Markovic clear on goal, down the inside-right channel, but his attempted slide-rule pass is easily blocked by Vertonghen. A chance spurned, there. 9.14pm GMT21:14 55 min: Mason powers down the middle of the park. Sakho gets a block in. But in comes Lamela, who meets the loose ball and absolutely smashes a rising shot towards the top-left corner from the edge of the D. Mignolet tips over the bar, a spectacular stop. What a save! The corner comes to nothing. 9.12pm GMT21:12 GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Gerrard 53 pen) Gerrard blooters the spot kick into the top right, though Lloris got a fingertip to it. That’s the Liverpool captain’s tenth goal of the season, and his fifth penalty. Updated at 9.38pm GMT 9.11pm GMT21:11 Penalty for Liverpool! 51 min: Liverpool show up front for the first time since the restart, Moreno latching on to a speculative Gerrard crossfield ball and winning a corner by the left-hand post. The resulting set piece isn’t up to much, Dier guiding a deep ball out of play on the right. From the wing, Sturridge dribbles into the area, and is clumsily upended by Rose. It’s a cheap one, a totally unnecessary challenge by the full back. Updated at 9.23pm GMT 9.09pm GMT21:09 50 min: Mason loops a ball down the inside-right channel to find Kane in the area. Kane spins and shoots in one smooth movement, but he’s blocked by Sakho. Fine play all round, that. 9.08pm GMT21:08 49 min: Spurs have come out on the front foot, though. Eriksen isn’t far away from rolling a defence-splitting pass into the Liverpool box to release Bentaleb, but the ball’s hacked clear at the last. 9.07pm GMT21:07 48 min: A slower start to this half, though. Perhaps both teams have decided that they simply couldn’t keep carrying on like that. 9.05pm GMT21:05 46 min: But Ibe’s first job of the second half is to battle Rose for a ball down the Spurs left, the left-back hoping to break into the Liverpool area. Ibe is strong and wins the goal kick. An early sign that Tottenham certainly aren’t going to settle for a point, though. Updated at 9.15pm GMT 9.04pm GMT21:04 And we’re off again! Spurs get the ball rolling, kicking towards the Kop. No changes. If this is half as good as the first period, we’ll be doing all right. “Ibe is revealing himself to be quite the player is he not?” asks Michael Cosgrove. “He’s becoming a real menace for defences. I only have to read ‘Ibe wriggles free of...’ or ‘Ibe sets off down the right...’ and I’m expecting something to happen.” 8.51pm GMT20:51 Half-time entertainment: Anyone for an old Joy of Six, celebrating some classic matches between these two grand old clubs? A stellar cast of stars includes, among others, Dave Mackay, Willie Stevenson, Terry Dyson, Cliff Jones, Terry McDermott, Jimmy Greaves, Ian St John, Kevin Keegan, Pat Jennings, Ronnie Whelan, Garth Crooks and Teddy Sheringham. Marvellous. 8.49pm GMT20:49 HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur That was breathless, free-form, highly entertaining nonsense. How there’s only been two goals in it, I’ll never know. Another 45 minutes like that will do very nicely indeed. 8.48pm GMT20:48 45 min +2: Sturridge hits the right-hand post with a back heel! Ibe causes more bother down the right. He finds the striker with his back to goal, six yards out. And there’s the back heel, which his hammered onto the post with Lloris beaten all ends up! What an effort that was. Markovic, a couple of yards away, wanted the lay-off for a simple tap-in, but you can’t blame Sturridge after that. 8.47pm GMT20:47 45 min +1: Dembele turns Sakho down the right wing. Sakho - who had been attempting to tap-dance on the ball, before falling over in the slapstick style, brings his opponent down. A no-brainer of a booking, in more ways than one. 8.46pm GMT20:46 45 min: There will be two added minutes of this. Is it nearly half time already?! 8.43pm GMT20:43 43 min: Free kick for Liverpool down the right. Gerrard hoicks it aimlessly towards the far post, Spurs clearing with ease. Once again, the Liverpool captain hasn’t been at his best, but that’s the nature of time for you. 8.42pm GMT20:42 41 min: Mason slips a fine pass down the inside-left channel, releasing Kane into the Liverpool area. He’s one on one with Mignolet, but the keeper smothers well. It should be a corner, but the flag goes up for offside, incorrectly as Ibe was sitting deep. 8.41pm GMT20:41 40 min: Skrtel is booked for a nick on Kane’s ankles, as the two compete for a ball in the midfield. Clumsy, and cheap, but he can’t complain too much. Updated at 9.12pm GMT 8.39pm GMT20:39 38 min: Ibe embarks on a high-velocity zig-zag, drifting in from the right. Upon reaching the edge of the box, he hammers a rising, swerving shot towards Lloris, who parries brilliantly. Vertonghen steps in to head the rebound gracefully back into the arms of the grateful keeper. 8.38pm GMT20:38 36 min: A game of head tennis in the midfield. Must have been six or seven in a row there, little triangulated passes, mainly off Tottenham heads. Spurs channelling their inner Harlem Globetrotters. Hope the PA guy has a copy of Sweet Georgia Brown to hand, just in case something like this breaks out again. 8.35pm GMT20:35 34 min: Ibe causes a bit more bother down the right, but though he makes it past a couple of white shirts en route to the penalty area, can’t do anything when he gets there, and Spurs clear the danger. 8.33pm GMT20:33 32 min: Eriksen loses possession again in the middle. Spurs are taking all sorts of risks. A long ball’s looped down the park. Markovic nearly gets to it, 30 yards out, and if he did he’d have been able to lob it over Lloris, advancing rashly from his area. But Vertonghen applies enough pressure to put the Liverpool man off. This is not going to end 1-1. 8.31pm GMT20:31 31 min: Henderson has a couple of shots from the edge of the Spurs box. Both are blocked. Then Coutinho wins a corner down the left, but Dier clears the set piece. This is as open a game as there’s been all season. 8.30pm GMT20:30 29 min: Mason whips a dangerous looking ball into the Liverpool area from the left. Skrtel saves the day with Kane lurking, a lovely diving header upfield. Meanwhile a rather fine moment on BT Sport a couple of moments back there, as the commentator announces how they’ve secured 42 live matches a season between 2016 to 2019. Mid-boast, the producer accidentally cuts to a shot of an empty corridor outside the Anfield changing rooms, one bloke ambling down it, hands in pockets. Live and exclusive! 8.28pm GMT20:28 28 min: Eriksen is booked for a cynical tug on Ibe, who was looking to break down the right. From the set piece, Henderson knocks down for Sturridge, 25 yards out. The striker volleys towards the top left, but it’s a good few miles over the bar. Wild. 8.27pm GMT20:27 GOAL! AND WHO ELSE TO SCORE IT? Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Kane 26) Liverpool’s back four are all over the shop. Sakho’s marking Kane on the edge of the D. He wanders towards Lamela, to the left, and misses the Dane’s pass inside while doing so. Totally wrong-footed. Kane’s suddenly free in the area! He takes a touch, and batters a shot straight past Mignolet, pace beating the keeper. What a start to the game this is! Updated at 8.56pm GMT 8.24pm GMT20:24 24 min: Mason picks up the first booking of the evening for a fairly crude lunge into the back of Markovic. He doesn’t complain. 8.24pm GMT20:24 23 min: This is bombing along at 100 miles per hour. Both teams pressing like billy-o. It’s magnificent entertainment. The ball breaks to Kane on the halfway line. He tries to beat Mignolet, a la Xabi Alonso. The ball flies well wide right of the target, but hats off for ambition. 8.22pm GMT20:22 20 min: Another Spurs gift! Sturridge intercepts another sloppy pass and makes off for the box at the Kop end. He’s just ahead of Dier, and about to shoot, just inside the area, when the defender extends a telescopic leg and somehow blocks. A brilliant challenge, which diverts the shot over the crossbar. Then there’s some karmic payback for Spurs, who have been very generous with all these presents: the referee gives them the goal kick. Sturridge doesn’t look best pleased about it, but this is the way it is. Updated at 8.47pm GMT 8.20pm GMT20:20 19 min: Eriksen lifts a pass over Can down the left, releasing Rose into the box. Skrtel blocks for a corner. The set piece, worked in from the left, is nearly turned into the goal from six yards by Bentaleb, doing his best Cruyffesque flick. Another corner, which is cleared. Spurs are pressing for a quick equaliser. 8.18pm GMT20:18 17 min: Liverpool are extremely open at the back. Kane advances on the Liverpool box, and slides a pass left to Eriksen, who’s free in the area. He shoots low, but from nowhere, Can slides over to block for a corner that’s easily cleared. I’m guessing this won’t be ending 1-0. 8.16pm GMT20:16 GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Markovic 15) Kane nearly breaks clear into the Liverpool box down the right. He opts not to shoot immediately, but cuts inside. Mason has a dig, but Mignolet is behind it all the way. Liverpool launch the ball upfield, and Markovic picks up possession 40 yards out, to the right of goal. Markovic drifts left as he reaches the area, then sends a bobbler towards the bottom right. Lloris should parry at least, but allows the weak(ish) effort to flap his hands back. The ball flies into the net, and Markovic has his first goal at Anfield. What an open start to the game this has been! Updated at 8.37pm GMT 8.14pm GMT20:14 13 min: Magnificent play by Ibe, who is released down the right by a raking crossfield Gerrard pass. He twists Rose this way and that, reaches the byline, and finds Markovic on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Markovic lays off for Sturridge, just behind him. Sturridge slaps a shot towards the bottom left. It’s a brilliant effort, but parried wonderfully by Lloris. Dier clears. 8.12pm GMT20:12 12 min: A bit of space for Moreno down the left. He reaches the byline and pulls a fierce ball back for Markovic, whose first-time blooter from 12 yards, just to the left of goal, sails high into the Kop. “They should invite that cat back,” opines Marie Meyer. “The pitch looks like it is infested with moles.” 8.11pm GMT20:11 10 min: Rose miscontrols again, and can’t even connect with a handball. He’s trying to stop Ibe cutting in from the right. And he eventually does that, by taking the young winger down, 30 yards from goal, just to the right of the target. Gerrard takes the set piece, and looks to whip one into the top-right corner. It’s not that far off, but high enough, and Lloris watches it fly over. 8.10pm GMT20:10 9 min: Another slack pass in the midfield by Spurs. Sturridge goes off on a powerful run down the inside-right channel. He’s just clear of the last man, but once he reaches the area, his low shot towards the bottom left is easily smothered by Lloris. 8.08pm GMT20:08 7 min: Lamela plays a delicious reverse pass down the inside-right channel to release Kane into the Liverpool area. Well, nearly. It goes out for a goal kick, just, with Mignolet off his line to cover. Kane leaps over Mignolet and makes a half-arsed claim for a penalty, but he doesn’t really seem to believe it himself. The keeper taking a chance there, though. 8.07pm GMT20:07 4 min: Spurs are seeing a little bit more of the ball than the hosts. Already a suggestion that they’re getting the upper hand in the middle of the park. But then Mason gifts the ball to Markovic in the centre circle. Markovic tries to feed Sturridge with a flicked pass down the left channel. But it’s overhit, and out for a goal kick. 8.04pm GMT20:04 3 min: Rose misses his kick while attempting to clear upfield. Ibe picks up possession and romps down the right, winning a corner. Gerrard takes, and hits deep. Skrtel gets on the end of it, but the ball clanks between his legs. He can’t get a shot away. 8.02pm GMT20:02 2 min: Dembele goes on a determined meander down the inside-right channel. He nearly breaks clear into the box, but opts to feed Kane on the outside, and the move peters out. A strong start by the visitors, though. “I must take issue with Ian Copestake,” insists Paul Ewart. “I’m sat in Finland with a face on because Joe Allen’s not playing. Well more because Lucas is injured to be honest and because the skipper’s back in the middle. I thought Brendan had learned his lesson. Let’s hope I’m wrong.” 8.01pm GMT20:01 The Gerry and the Pacemakers (kids, ask granny or grandad) seven-inch (kids, ask granny or grandad) is whacked on the turntable, the crowd join in, and the referee blows his whistle: we’re off! Liverpool must have lost the toss, because they’re being made to kick towards the Kop in the first half, something they’re never that keen on. They also kick off. Both sets of fans giving it plenty. 7.58pm GMT19:58 The teams are out, on a cold night at Anfield! A fine atmosphere under the lights. The pre-match niceties are being observed, hands, pennants, mascots, the whole palaver. One of the Liverpool mascots is frozen by a bout of shyness, and doesn’t want to go out. Poor wee mite. Hope he enjoys the rest of his evening. We’ll be off in a minute! “Surely the Seeing is Believing organisation missed a good bit of humorous PR by not sponsoring the Premier League refs, rather than Liverpool?” quips Justin Kavanagh. 7.45pm GMT19:45 Why we may see goals tonight. “Thank heaven for Brendan’s decision not to include Joe Allen as a starter,” sighs Ian Copestake. “I had promised myself that if he had, I would not go to the pub to see the game but would sit on the couch arms folded with the face on till the final whistle.” You might have the face on anyway, because Liverpool’s selection looks quite the attacking gamble. Three defenders, two of whom like to dribble upfield at every given opportunity, a marauding full back, two wingers, a playmaker, a striker, a bloke on a valedictory lap of honour, and Jordan Henderson asked to hold it all together. It could be a shambles. It could also be brilliant. Either way, let’s hope Mario Balotelli and Adam Lallana get thrown on at some point; Liverpool may as well go the whole mercurial hog. Liverpool owner John Henry’s in the stand tonight, too, so you can’t accuse Brendan Rodgers of playing it safe. This swashbuckling Tottenham side, who have played out a 2-2, a 4-2 and a 5-3 in recent weeks, look almost conservative by comparison. Almost. 7.12pm GMT19:12 Daniel Sturridge starts for the first time in the Premier League since Liverpool won 3-0 at White Hart Lane in late August. Mario Balotelli’s made the squad, too, so memories of that sunny day will be strong in the home dressing room. Tottenham Hotspur meanwhile are unchanged from the weekend. That’s no surprise given how wonderful they were against Arsenal. Spurs will be turning out in their famous white shirts ... ... while the home side have a different sponsor today, in order to promote the Seeing is Believing charity, which is helping to tackle avoidable blindness. 7.04pm GMT19:04 The teams Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Markovic, Henderson, Gerrard, Moreno, Ibe, Coutinho, Sturridge.Subs: Johnson, Lovren, Lambert, Lallana, Allen, Balotelli, Ward. Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Bentaleb, Mason, Lamela, Eriksen, Dembele, Kane.Subs: Paulinho, Soldado, Vorm, Townsend, Fazio, Chadli, Davies. Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire). 7.00pm GMT19:00 The last time Spurs took a point away from Anfield was in February 2012. A fairly tedious 0-0 draw, mainly remembered for the return of Luis Suarez from the Evra suspension, Harry Redknapp’s plane north being grounded due to technical difficulties, and a first-half cameo from this Lil Bub tribute act: The Anfield Cat. Brad Friedel in goal. Redknapp and Kenny Dalglish in the dugouts. Jay Spearing, Charlie Adam and Gareth Bale. It all seems so very long ago. Ah the constant march of time. 6.30pm GMT18:30 3-2. 5-0. 4-0. 3-0. Liverpool’s recent record against Tottenham Hotspur – four wins, two at home, two away, with 15 goals scored and only a couple shipped – is as good as it gets in football. All runs must come to an end sometime, of course, but on the face of that evidence – and the fact that Spurs have only won in the league at Anfield four times in the last 103 years – you’d have Brendan Rodgers’ side down as strong favourites here tonight. But it is, of course, never quite as simple as that. Liverpool are on a decent-enough run of form right now. It’s no defeats in the league since mid December, an eight-game run. And their much-maligned defensive unit – Simon Mignolet, Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho – haven’t conceded a goal in the league for four matches. Daniel Sturridge is back and already looking sharp, while the super-promising Jordon Ibe is the new vibe. But Raheem Sterling and Lucas are injured tonight, while Steven Gerrard’s form has fallen off a cliff, games passing him by with worrying regularity. He might be timing his exit well, you know. Tottenham meanwhile are in fine fettle. They’re coming off the back of a superlative performance in the north London derby, have reached the League Cup final, recently belted Chelsea for five goals, and in Harry Kane boast the man of the moment, the young lad having scored more league goals this season than all of Liverpool’s strikers put together. Kane, Nabil Bentaleb, Mousa Dembele, Ryan Mason, Hugo Lloris and Cristian Eriksen are all in sparkling form. The cockerel tails are up; Mauricio Pochettinho’s side are looking extremely dangerous. So Liverpool boast the upper hand in this fixture, but it’s Spurs who have more momentum right now. Given that Liverpool have been none too shabby themselves, one of the form teams in the Premier League, that’s quite a feather in the Tottenham titfer. In other words, you can make a strong case for either team triumphing here tonight. Which means we could have a cracker on our hands. Good luck calling it! It’s on! Kick off: 8pm. |