PLAYER RATINGS: LIVERPOOL 1-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Liverpool dropped points at home to Spurs tonight as Antonio Conte’s men held them to a frustrating draw. A goalless first half exploded into life when Son gave the visitors the lead in the second period. Diaz’s deflected shot leveled the match but the Reds couldn’t find the winner. Here are player ratings from the match.

Alisson – 6

Held onto Bentacur’s shot well early on. Wasn’t called into action much across the ninety minutes. Nothing he could do about the goal.

Alexander-Arnold – 6.5

Excellent bit of defending to halt Kane’s progress early on. Saw off Son not long after that. Was excellent defensively but shocking going forward. Piss poor deliveries tonight. Not the time to lose your crossing radar. Got into so many good positions and took several set pieces but they were a letdown.

Konate – 7

Did well to slide in on Son before the ball broke for Bentacur early on. Dealt well enough with the Korean’s threat in behind. He’s maturing well. Headed one corner well over the Spurs goal second half.

Van Dijk – 7.5

Came closest to opening the scoring first half when he headed one corner wide and then smacked the crossbar on another. Showed the full extent of his quality when he outpaced Bergwijn to prevent him having a free shot on goal late on. Always in the right place at the right time to clear crosses into the box.

Robertson – 5

Looked tired. Didn’t fancy taking on Emerson as a result, with most of his passes going back to Virgil. Played the world and his dog onside for their goal. He’s been run into the ground in recent weeks and it showed. A couple of disappointing set piece deliveries as well. Subbed.

Fabinho – 7

Thought he did well to try and halt most of their counter attacks. Always got a foot in when Kane tried to spin and play someone in. Took one for the team when he took Son out second half.

Henderson – 6.5

Fantastic block early on when Kane shaped to shoot, truly fantastic piece of defending. The skipper did alright, provided an option down the right hand side and sought to cover Trent whenever possible. Sacrificed for Jota when they scored.

Thiago – 8.5

Probed and probed throughout. Played that long diagonal to the backpost a number of times. Gets credited with the assist for Diaz’s equaliser. Looked like his eyes will pop out when Trent didn’t read his pass to the backpost with time running out.

Salah – 6

Full of running and kept Sessegnon and Davies honest. His decision making in and around the box left a lot to be desired however. About three occasions he could have laid it off to a teammate but took on the shot and saw it blocked. He’s only scored in two of his last 18 games for club and country. It’s just not falling his way in the box.

Mané – 6

First half he was heavily involved. Created a few openings, with one cheeky layoff seeing Diaz test Lloris from range. Last half hour he faded. Probably fatigue setting in. Was shocked we didn’t see Origi come on for him.

Diaz – 8.5

Once again the livewire. Run at Emerson and looked dangerous every time he cut in. It was fitting that he scored the equaliser as he took on his man on the edge of the box to create space for the shot. A lucky deflection beat Lloris but if you don’t buy the ticket, you don’t win the raffle.

Substitutes

Jota – 5

Horrendous touch almost every time it came to him. Couldn’t really get involved. Not the kind of impact Jürgen wanted.

Tsimikas – 5.5

Showed heart and fight but couldn’t get the quality on the final ball. To be fair, Spurs defended crosses brilliantly all night. Booked for fouling Kulusevski on the break.

Keita – N/A

Left a ball for Mo on the edge of the box and kicked Kane in the midriff to allow them waste more time. Surprised that last sub wasn’t Origi to be honest.

Jürgen Klopp

The gaffer made just two changes to the side that sealed a Champions League final spot on Tuesday night. Jordan Henderson and Luis Diaz came in from the start with Naby Keita and Diogo Jota dropping out. Ibrahima Konaté kept his place in the heart of defence, presumably to help deal with the pace of Son on the break.

His side played well enough first half so he didn’t have to make any subs at the break. When Spurs took the lead he reacted quickly and sent on Jota in a switch to a 4-2-3-1 setup. That helped as the Reds equalised through Diaz.

An extra push was needed in the final few minutes and it’s a surprise Keita got the nod over Origi who is a bit of a late goal specialist. You can understand the manager’s thinking as Fabinho was on a booking and would have been sent off for halting any more counters illegally.

It’s two dropped at the end of the day. The Reds go top on goal difference but Manchester City have a chance to pull away with a win over Newcastle United tomorrow.