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Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 2 Liverpool – Premier League Postmortem

After a week in which momentum had finally begun to replace panic, Liverpool arrived in North London knowing that results, rather than performances, were doing much of the heavy lifting. What followed was another three points, another step forward in the table — and yet another reminder that this team remains deeply flawed beneath the surface.

The Starting Eleven

Liverpool XI

• GK – Alisson Becker

• RB – Conor Bradley

• CB – Ibrahima Konaté

• CB – Virgil van Dijk (c)

• LB – Milos Kerkez

• CM – Curtis Jones

• CM – Ryan Gravenberch

• CM – Dominik Szoboszlai

• ACM – Alexis Mac Allister

• CF – Hugo Ekitike

• CF – Florian Wirtz

Substitutes

Alexander Isak → Conor Bradley (45’)

Jeremie Frimpong → Alexander Isak (60’)

Federico Chiesa → Jeremie Frimpong (90’)

Andy Robertson → Hugo Ekitike (90+9’)

Trey Nyoni → Florian Wirtz (90+9’)

Goals

Tottenham 0–1 Liverpool – Alexander Isak (Florian Wirtz) – 56’

Tottenham 0–2 Liverpool – Hugo Ekitike – 66’

Tottenham 1–2 Liverpool – Richarlison – 83’

Red Cards

Xavi Simons

Match Statistics

• Possession – Tottenham 00% | Liverpool 00%

• XG – Tottenham 1.07 | Liverpool 0.66

• Total Shots – Tottenham 15 | Liverpool 7

• Fouls – Tottenham 9 | Liverpool 7

• Corners – Tottenham 2 | Liverpool 6

• Saves – Tottenham 2 | Liverpool 4

First Half

An edgy opening period saw Liverpool struggle to assert any form of dominance against a Spurs side already low on confidence. Possession was sterile, movement was limited, and once again the midfield four looked more like a protective shell than a platform for creativity.

The turning point arrived at 33 minutes when Xavi Simons was dismissed, reducing the hosts to ten men. Rather than seizing control, Liverpool remained cautious, almost reluctant to stretch a disjointed opponent. The ball moved slowly, the press was half-hearted, and the spaces that should have appeared never truly materialised.

Despite numerical superiority, the Reds went into the break having offered little more than control without incision — a recurring theme this season.

Second Half

The restart brought clarity, if not conviction. Florian Wirtz, once again the brightest red shirt on the pitch, finally injected tempo and imagination into a flat contest. His perfectly weighted pass released Alexander Isak for the opener, a moment of genuine quality in an otherwise laboured display.

Ten minutes later, Hugo Ekitike doubled the advantage with sharp striker’s instinct, capitalising on Spurs’ defensive vulnerability rather than sustained Liverpool pressure. At 2–0, and against ten men, the game should have been over.

Instead, Liverpool retreated. Spurs — later reduced to nine men after Cristian Romero’s dismissal — continued to find space and belief, eventually pulling a goal back through Richarlison. That Liverpool were defending nervously against nine-man opposition was as damning as it was revealing.

The most worrying moment came when Isak, having scored and changed the game, limped off with what appears to be an MCL knee issue. With Mohamed Salah away at AFCON, the loss of Isak could prove devastating.

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Final Thoughts

Three wins in succession cannot be ignored, but neither can the manner in which they are being achieved. Liverpool were poor for long stretches, creatively blunt, and structurally rigid. The reliance on four central midfielders behind an attacking midfielder and striker speaks less to evolution and more to containment — a system designed to mask defensive fragility rather than unlock attacking potential.

Florian Wirtz was outstanding, once again carrying the creative burden almost alone. Without him, this performance drifts toward another frustrating draw. Yet even with his brilliance, Liverpool failed to dismantle a struggling Spurs side reduced to nine men.

Results are buying Arne Slot time. Performances are not. And with Isak potentially sidelined and Salah absent, the margin for error is narrowing fast.

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Steven Smith’s Score Prediction:

Tottenham 1 – 2 Liverpool

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