Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham: 5 Hits and Flops
Hugo Lloris' late mistake proved pivotal as Liverpool returned to top spot in the Premier League with a smash-and-grab 2-1 victory against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon. Lucas Moura's devastating counter-attacking finish after 70 minutes meant the game was delicately poised after Roberto Firmino headed home in a dominant first-half showing by the hosts.
However, they were completely overwhelmed after the break and appeared vulnerable - which Spurs were happy to capitalise upon. Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli grew in confidence after being defensively shackled, while Harry Kane got more involved and bright spark Lucas had more space to work with too.
Despite creating chances themselves to snatch all three points, they had the result cruelly snatched away from their grasp after a match-defining blunder by World Cup winner Lloris in the dying minutes. He fumbled, rather than comfortably catching Salah's headed effort and the ball trickled over the line after ricocheting off Toby Alderweireld inches from the goal line.
Without further ado, here's a look at five hits and flops from Liverpool's latest win:
#5 Flop: Harry Kane
Given just how important his presence is for Tottenham going forward, not to mention being their captain and someone you'd expect to lead by example, Harry Kane was fairly anonymous in this encounter. Perhaps that says more about Virgil van Dijk's defensive display than the Englishman, but he didn't have many encouraging moments at Anfield.
Even with that being said, it was his quick thinking which proved pivotal in the build-up to their equaliser: taking a quick free-kick after Jordan Henderson's needless foul saw him swing a diagonal pass towards Trippier in acres of space on the right-hand side.
Moments later, the visitors were celebrating a brilliant counter-attacking goal - but the fact it took 70 minutes for them to create a clear-cut chance like this spoke volumes for Kane and his struggles to get himself into dangerous positions, breaching the hosts' backline.
Whenever he did, he either made the wrong decision or was dispossessed - so how can they expect to get anywhere without the focal point in their attack either making intelligent runs or demanding the ball in an attempt to build from deep?
He, alongside Mohamed Salah, had a joint-low touches (31) - but relinquished possession more often (4) and was more frustrating to watch. In a game of such magnitude, we've come to expect better than mere flashes of his ability.