Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Freddie Keighley

Liverpool's double injustice vs Tottenham masks unpleasant reality for Jurgen Klopp

The away fans in the corner of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had plenty to protest against during Sunday evening's riveting but controversial encounter between Spurs and Liverpool.

The Reds were forced to settle for a point after a back-and-forth 2-2 draw during which both teams led only to be pegged back by the opposition.

The goals scored by Harry Kane, Diogo Jota, Andy Robertson and Son Heung-min were largely overshadowed by a number of incidents throughout the match, some of which divided opinion and some of which appeared more clear-cut.

The first of these moments came in the 20th minute, shortly after Kane's opener, when the England captain lunged in on Andy Robertson with his studs showing and swiftly received a yellow card from Paul Tierney.

Was a draw a fair result between Tottenham and Liverpool? Have your say in the comments!

Harry Kane escaped with a yellow card for his studs-up challenge on Andy Robertson (Kieran McManus/REX/Shutterstock)

To the surprise of many Premier League fans and the fury of Jurgen Klopp on the touchline, the referee was not summoned to the pitchside monitor to decide if the tackle deserved a more-severe punishment.

Compounding Liverpool's grievances, the victim of Kane's challenge, Robertson, was sent off following a VAR check for a crunching challenge on Emerson Royal late in the second half.

Klopp left Tierney in no doubt about his unhappiness at the full-time whistle, while he also criticised the decision not to award Liverpool a penalty after Emerson seemed to haul down Jota in the area.

Had Kane been sent off and Liverpool been given a spot kick just seconds after Jota's 35th-minute equaliser, it seems highly likely they would have left north London with all three points.

However, these contentious moments should hide the fact that the Reds' performance against Spurs left a lot to be desired.

While full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson had brilliant games - even if the latter was sent off - the same cannot be said for the vast majority of their teammates.

Mohamed Salah had an unusually-quiet game in attack and colleague Sadio Mane was wasteful.

Liverpool were not awarded a penalty after Diogo Jota was bundled over by Emerson Royal (John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

In deeper areas, a second-string midfield trio of James Milner, Naby Keita and Tyler Morton failed to stamp their authority on the match, leaving the centre-backs and goalkeeper exposed too often.

Liverpool may have had more possession and more shots, but Spurs had the pick of the chances after carving through their visitors with alarming ease.

The Reds had Alisson to thank for a string of fine stops in both halves as Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip struggled to cope with the counter-attacking threat posed by Son in particular.

How did Liverpool's players rate out of 10 against Tottenham? Give your verdict below!

But the in-form goalkeeper could not keep Tottenham at bay single-handedly and in the end it was an unfortunate misjudgement of his own making which handed Spurs a 74th-minute equaliser.

Alisson was not helped by Klopp's bold call to move to an attacking 4-2-4 formation on the hour mark, which left Liverpool more vulnerable to the counter-attack.

So, while he may feel aggrieved about a number of Tierney's decisions on the night - perhaps rightly so - Klopp may suspect deep down that one point was what his side deserved.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.