Liverpool’s dismal performance continued as they played out a tame draw against Tottenham. Klopp’s tactic were exploited by their opponents as liverpool’s defence looked much thinner on paper. He started off with a formation 4-3-3 which turned out to be ineffective.
It also turned out to be one of the days where even a brilliant play will be called offside.It was one of those days for Liverpool as something strange happened in the first half. Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana combined together to break the deadlocks. The dynamic duo broke through a resilient Tottenham midfield and Lallana pushed the ball to Sadio Mane who had only the goalkeeper to get through. Unfortunately the flag had gone up and everyone including Klopp was frustrated and yelled out in desperation.
Liverpool had more than enough chances to win, quite apart from the mysterious offside call. From the start the thrust of Mané and trickery of Philippe Coutinho tested Tottenham. They set about the challenge here with swift movement and energy. Atlast the breakthrough came in the form of a penalty just before the half time mark.It was a walk in the park for James Milner as he scored past a diving Michel Vorm. Liverpool took the lead before heading into the second half.
Liverpool continued their dominance in the second half. Wijnaldum scooped just over the net off a cross from Lallana. Tottenham survived more scares as Liverpool’s midfield created quite a few problems. Pochettino’s frustration was growing but he later credited his team’s resolve for summoning enough pressure to equalise. Danny Rose escaped the general congestion and was allowed plenty of space to pick his spot when Eric Dier’s cross was knocked towards him.Rose beat Simon Mignolet at the near post, releasing a wave of pent-up Tottenham angst.
Tottenham nearly scored another goal just before the dying minutes. Toby Alderweireld’s powerful header, which inspired the agile, twisting, save of the day from Mignolet. It was an action packed entertainer for fans as both the teams played their level best. Tottenham will now play Stoke City while Liverpool hosts the defending champions Leicester City.