Tottenham and Liverpool fail to find finishing touch in 0-0 stalemate
Both sides came close to grabbing a winner at different points in the game but in the end, neither one could come up with the goods. There are better ways to start off your Premier League campaign as a manager but the former Borussia Dortmund boss will have to settle for a point.
Going into the game, the pre-match talk was all focussed around one man, who was making his long-awaited Premier League debut, Jurgen Klopp. The German manager took charge of Liverpool over the international break after the sacking of Brendan Rodgers. The match against Tottenham was to be his baptism by fire as he came up against the Premier League Manager of the Month for September.
Both sides were hampered by long injury lists as Tottenham were without the services of Son, Chiriches, Mason and Bentaleb, while Liverpool were hit with long term injuries to Joe Gomez and Danny Ings. Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson remained on the treatment table for the Reds as well.
It meant that Divock Origi led the line for Klopp’s men with Lallana slotting in behind him. Dembele and Alli continued in midfield for Spurs, while ahead of those two were Chadli, Eriksen and Lamela playing behind Kane.
All the early signs in the game pointed Tottenham’s way, the chances were there for them in the first few minutes but a combination of poor finishing and some last-ditch defending kept them at bay.
Within the first 7 minutes of the game, Nacer Chadli would be injured and Clinton N’Jie came on to take his place. The youngster was impressive through the game as he was heavily involved in all of Tottenham’s best moves forward.
Liverpool won an early corner that threatened Lloris’ goal as Divock Origi hit the bar from close range after Emre Can headed on from their set-piece opportunity. After that, it was one Spurs attack after another for a while.
The best chance of the half, however fell to Clinton N’Jie who did well to strike the ball with the outside of his left boot and keep it on target but Mignolet palmed it away for a corner.
A few N’jie shots and some from Eriksen preceded one of the good chances of the game that fell to Harry Kane but his left-footed shot was parried and Alli’s shot from the rebound was blocked.
Liverpool started to get into the game again with some good pressing but half-time came before some of their good work began to bear fruit.
The second half began without any changes to either side but neither team could get a foothold in the game. Lucas had a shot at goal about 10 minutes into the half but skewed it wide, while Kyle Walker did the same with his shot just minutes later from outside the box.
In the 77th minute, Divock Origi had a shot at goal when he was played through on a Liverpool counter from a corner at the other end, but Lloris was there to thwart him. IN the build-up to that, James Milner ran into Danny Rose, flooring the left-back but the referee let play go on. Tottenham boss Pochettino seemed enraged by it because Milner was already on a yellow at that point in the game.
The game was scrappy with bit both teams struggling to retain possession. Neither manager made a substitution till the 80-minute mark apart from the forced change made by Pochettino early in the game, but 10 minutes before the end of the game, Klopp made his first substitution bringing on Joe Allen to replace Lallana.
In the 84th minute Harry Kane came close to giving his side the lead when Eriksen went on a run beating 3 defenders and laid it off to the English striker. Kane’s shot ricocheted off a Liverpool defender and was saved by Mignolet.
Then it was Liverpool’s turn to go forward as Tottenham’s French custodian was made to scramble when Emre Can’s shot from outside the box whizzed past the post. Although, Lloris did look like he was just about getting there to save the attempt.
Neither side had the finishing touch to break the deadlock and the result was better for their other competitors than it was for either side. However, both lived to fight another day with a point-a-side.