Amy Lawrence’s match report from Wembley:
Full time: Tottenham 4-1 Liverpool
Peep peep! Spurs beat Liverpool for the first time since 2012 with a rousing performance full of of ruthless counter-attacking. Liverpool suffered death by deja vu, defending desperately for all four goals, with Dejan Lovren having a particular shocker. Thanks for your company, goodnight!
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90 min Harry Winks has had another fine game in midfield, both with and without the ball. He looks a player.
89 min Kane might be a doubt for Spurs’ trip to Old Trafford in six days’ time.
88 min Harry Kane is going off. He has his hand on his left hamstring, though he is not limping. Fernando Llorente replaces him. Kane was, and is, utterly magnificent.
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83 min Can, who has had a stinker, is replaced by Marko Grukic.
81 min Alli nutmegs Can with an outrageous piece of Playstation skill, moving the ball one way before dragging it in the opposite direction through Can’s legs. You’ll be seeing that one a few times. Moments later, the ever excellent Eriksen is replaced by Eric Dier.
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78 min Oxlade-Chamberlain robs Aurier in a dangerous position and cuts the ball back to Salah, whose shot is saved by the feet of Lloris. Oxlade-Chamberlain has made some eye-catching contributions since coming on as sub.
77 min Liverpool bring on Daniel Sturridge to replace Roberto Firmino. An eventful game is starting to peter out.
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74 min This result leaves Liverpool 12 points behind Manchester City. Even after nine games, their title challenge looks over.
73 min Coutinho tries one of his trademark long-range curlers from the inside-left channel, and Lloris leaps to make a comfortable save.
72 min Salah produces an ingenious flick behind his standing leg to find Milner, whose low shot from a tight angle is kicked away by Lloris.
71 min “There’s no shame in losing to Tottenham,” says Niall Mullen. “Yet somehow Liverpool have all of the shame that has ever existed.”
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70 min The aggregate score from today’s matches is North London 9-3 Merseyside.
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69 min Spurs make a change, with Moussa Sissoko replacing the superb Heung-Min Son.
67 min Lloris makes a spectacular save, springing to his right to palm Coutinho’s rising drive onto the bar. It was a brilliant effort from Coutinho, raked with his left foot from the edge of the box. Lloris went with his wrong hand, the left, and pushed it up onto the underside of the bar.
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66 min Spurs’ work rate is phenomenal, even at 4-1. They are such an admirable team in almost everything they do.
65 min Kane surges thrillingly into the box, using Eriksen’s off-the-ball run by not using him, before hitting a low shot that is crucially blocked by Gomez. I think that was going in.
63 min Son has had a fine game today, shredding Liverpool with his pace on the counter-attack.
62 min Trippier’s corner is headed up in the air at the near post and comes to Sanchez, who mis-hits a volley from 15 yards. That was a presentable chance.
61 min This feels like a significant day for Spurs, when Wembley started to feel like home.
59 min Although Spurs have been ruthless with their finishing, all four goals have come from defensive howlers.
GOAL! Tottenham 4-1 Liverpool (Kane 56)
Kane storms down the right and is fouled by Matip. He is such a handful - and now he has his second goal! Mignolet came for Winks’s free-kick and mistimed a desperate punch straight to Vertonghen. Firmino did brilliantly to clear his shot off the line but Kane was there to sweep up from six yards. He is simply magnificent.
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53 min Oxlade-Chamberlain makes Trippier look silly with a lovely piece of skill on the left. He stands up a deep cross that just evades the leaping Salah at the far post.
51 min Eriksen’s left-wing corner is headed wide by Kane, under pressure from Matip.
47 min Some early pressure from Liverpool, sparked by a brilliant cross from Oxlade-Chamberlain on the left. The problem for Liverpool is that every attack comes with a big risk of Spurs scoring on the break.
46 min Peep peep! Spurs begin the second half. This game is so open that it could end with any scoreline from 7-1 to 3-5.
Half-time chit-chat
Bill Hargreaves “With Mou, Klopp, Pep, Poch, Conte and Arsène, the premiership has become so theatrical. Never quite sure whether it is a Shakespearian tragedy or a European farce, who is Malvolio or Puck, Falstaff or Shylock, but it rarely fails to entertain.”
Paul Griffin “Watching the defensive Maginot line on display today, the away team’s fans will be pining for the defensive solidity of past players like Torben Piechnik, Bjorn Tore Kvarme, and, the post-millennial Beckenbauer, Djimi Traore. But it’s not clear that that resilience can be delivered by Lovren et al.”
Half time: Tottenham 3-1 Liverpool
That was great entertainment, though Liverpool’s defending put the dire in diabolical. In fairness to Matip, I can see why he decided to head that Eriksen free-kick, as he couldn’t be certain of the position of Kane behind him. But it was a poor header, straight onto the right foot of Dele Alli.
See you in 10 minutes for a few more goals.
Eriksen’s long free-kick was going to drift out of play, but Matip decided he needed to put his head on it. He could only divert it towards the edge of the area, where Alli arrived to bobble an accurate volley into the corner.
GOAL! Tottenham 3-1 Liverpool (Alli 45+3)
Another mistake from Liverpool!
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45+2 min Can is booked for a cynical foul on Dele Alli.
45+1 min Kane, spotting Mignolet off his line, has a shot from inside his own half that is blocked by a Liverpool player. It’s a reflection of his stratospheric confidence that he even tried it.
45 min It’s been a breathless half, great fun to watch. There will be two added minutes.
42 min The match is lurching from end to end. Trippier’s cross flashes across goal; moments later he heads Moreno’s cross behind for a corner at the other end. It’s half cleeared to Henderson, whose sweet long-range volley is headed away by Vertonghen near the penalty spot. I think Lloris would have saived it anyway.
40 min Coutinho’s corner, the first of the match for either side, is headed wide by Gomez. The referee gives another corner to Liverpool. Nothing happens. Jurgen Klopp is almost foaming at the mouth on the touchline.
38 min There was a dizzying piece of skill from Kane before he shot wide a minute ago. He pushed the ball away from one defender, dragged it back to evade a second and then instantly pushed it forward again to beat the third.
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37 min After a superb run from inside his own half, Kane drags a weary shot wide from just outside the box.
37 min Liverpool are right back in this game, and you can sense the unease around the ground. Moreno stands up a dangerous cross that is headed clear at the far post, and Can’s long-range follow-up is blocked.
36 min The more you see the Salah goal, the more it looks like Firmino may have fouled Kane in the build-up. It could have gone either way.
32 min The dangerous Salah skins Aurier and waves a low cross into the six-yard area towards Oxlade-Chamberlain. Lloris plunges to his right to claim.
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31 min Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces poor old Dejan Lovren. Joe Gomez will move to centre-back, with Can at right-back. Coutinho has gone into midfield, with Oxlade-Chamberlain on the left of the front three.
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30 min Lovren, who is about to come off because of injury, makes a brilliant block to deny Kane another goal after a lofted ball in behind the defence.
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29 min Alli angles a sensational through pass to Son, who runs behind Lovren and mis-hits a first-time shot that is blocked by the left foot of Mignolet. Son should probably have scored.
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28 min Coutinho drives a long cross towards Salah, who heads towards goal from a tight angle beyond the far post. It’s a comfortable save for Lloris.
25 min Spurs wanted a free-kick for a foul on Kane just before the goal. I don’t think it was a foul. It was certainly a misjudgement by Lloris, who is usually such a good sweeper and had plenty of time to come out before Salah got to the ball.
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GOAL! Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool (Salah 24)
I told you this would be a cracker. Kane is robbed on the halfway line and the loose ball falls to Henderson, who curls a penetrative pass behind the defence. Lloris stays on his line, a strange mistake, and Salah scoots onto the loose ball before bobbling a right-footed shot in off the far post.
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22 min “I’m currently entertaining friends (being a grown-up, or something), which means I’m not watching the game,” says Matt Dony. “It might be a blessing in disguise. I have received 6 texts about Lovren in the last 3 minutes. I hate football.”
20 min Can considers a bouncing ball 25 yards from goal, and smashes it into orbit.
18 min Another devastating break from Spurs. Kane’s wonderful touch frees Son and gives Spurs a two-against-one attack. Son vrooms past the halfway line and eventually tries to play a return pass to put Kane through on goal. It’s blocked by Matip, whose positioning was perfect.
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16 min Son hits the bar! Spurs are savaging Liverpool on the counter-attack. Eriksen, on the right, curled a sumptuous pass in behind the defence to find Son, who took the ball in his stride and then, as it bounced up, cracked a fine shot off the underside of the bar.
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The move started with Lloris, who threw the ball towards Kane on the halfway line. Lovren ran straight past the ball, allowing Kane to surge into space down the right. He curled an excellent low pass around the last defender Matip to find Son, who rattled a first-time shot through Mignolet with his left foot. It was beautifully worked by Spurs but it all stemmed from that horrible misjudgement by Lovren. He tried to nip in front of Kane to meet Lloris’s throw and was left saying a hail mary as it whooshed over his head.
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GOAL! Tottenham 2-0 Liverpool (Son 12)
Dejan Lovren is having a beast.
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11 min Coutinho plays a good pass to the overlapping Moreno, whose low cross flashes across the area. There’s a lovely, open feel to this game, even more so since the goal.
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8 min On Sky Sports, Gary Neville has nailed both Lovren and Mignolet for their part in the goal - Lovren for playing offside, Mignolet for coming so far from his line and making Kane’s mind up for him.
The game came out of nothing. Tripper’s throw-in on the right came back to him and he dinked a speculative golf shot in behind the defence. Lovren dithered, looking for offside, and Kane got there first before moving inside the outrushing Mignolet. Although Kane was off balance he was able to push the ball into the net from 12 yards. It looked inelegant but it was a deceptively accomplished finish from the magnificent Kane. It was also wretched defending from Lovren.
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GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Liverpool (Kane 4)
Harry Kane gives Spurs the lead!
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3 min Liverpool have started smartly. Firmino turned Sanchez and stabs a pass to Salah, who is well challenged by the stretching Aurier. The ball rebounds off Salah for a goalkick.
2 min Spurs are playing an unusual formation, a kind of 3-3-2-1-1 with Winks in front of the defence and Son just behind Kane.
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1 min Peep peep! Liverpool, in red, get the match going. Spurs are in white.
The math A win would take Spurs to within five points of Manchester City. Liverpool start the match in eighth, 12 points behind City.
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Save The Crew! “This has nothing to do with the match,” says Graham Randall, “but if you could share this link that would be great.”
It looks like a very worthy cause. If you want to know more, here’s a bit of backstory.
Pre-match plugs
1. Nessun Dorma, a new podcast about 80s and 90s football.
2. A new oral history of the institution known as Liverpool Football Club.
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Liverpool fans won’t be devastated to hear that Everton are being thrashed by Arsenal in the early game. You can get the latest here.
Pre-match reading
The teams
Tottenham Hotspur (3-3-2-2) Lloris; Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Trippier, Winks, Aurier; Eriksen, Alli; Son, Kane.
Substitutes: Davies, Rose, Dier, Nkoudou, Sissoko, Llorente.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Mignolet; Gomez, Matip, Lovren, Moreno; Milner, Henderson, Can; Salah, Firmino, Coutinho.
Substitutes: Karius, Klavan, Alexander-Arnold, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Grujic, Solanke, Sturridge.
Referee Andre Marriner.
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Preamble
Hello. October is no time for a must-win game, but Spurs and especially Liverpool don’t have much choice. If they don’t take three points today they will need binoculars to catch sight of Manchester City. That and the attacking intent of both sides mean this should - should - be a cracker. It’s odd that Jurgen Klopp’s first game as Liverpool manager was a 0-0 draw at Spurs, because it’s hard to imagine a dull match between teams managed by him and Mauricio Pochettino.
Both sides are talented yet insecure. Spurs still haven’t settled at Wembley while anything is possible with Liverpool, who have already won 7-0 and lost 5-0 away from home this season. This is a significant part of the season for Spurs: in the next month they visit Manchester United, Arsenal and Dortmund and play at home to Liverpool and Real Madrid. A first win over Liverpool since 2012 would be a timely boost.
Kick off is at 4pm.
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