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Key occasions
Tottenham 0-0 Liverpool
Half-time: A half of little or no high quality ends with the impasse nonetheless intact however Spurs right down to 10 males following the dismissal of Xavi Simons for a nasty problem on Virgil van Dijk that was initially deemed worthy of a reserving, solely to be upgraded after video assistant referee Stuart Attwell suggested John Brooks to have one other look on his pitchside monitor. Earlier than Ximons acquired his marching order, Spurs had the choose of what few probabilities there have been, with Randal Kolo Muani heading weakly at Alisson from six yards when he had loads of purpose to goal at.
45+5 min: Liverpool nook. Szoboszlai’s nook is half-cleared in direction of Wirtz, whose piledriver is blocked by Rodrgio Bentancur. It’s half-time.
45+4 min: Vicario makes a large number of a clearance and appears accusingly on the turf. Spurs get away with it and clear the ball, regardless of their very own pitch showing to hitch the referee and the media in conspiring towards them.
45+2 min: Bradley continues to obtain therapy with referee John Brooks and Alisson wanting on. He will get to his ft and limps to the touchline earlier than being summoned again on.
45 min: Spence picks Bradley’s pocket and canters up the within left. He advances in direction of the Liverpool penalty space and goes down beneath a “problem” from the backtrackling Liverpool full-back. Regardless of Spence’s appeals for a penalty, it was not more than an unintentional collision. Bradley stays on the ground receiving therapy.
43 min: One other Liverpool nook results in a Spurs counter-attack, this one begun by Romero and ended when Bergvall runs into retreating visitors. Spurs are taking part in (even) extra defensively since Simons’ dismissal however are wanting very harmful on the break.
40 min: Liverpool nook. Sobozslai’s inswinger is punched clear by Vicario, who sends Kudus on his manner. He picks out Porro with a crossfield move however the Spaniard’s cross into the Liverpool penalty space is a bit of wild and too highly effective for Djed Spence to attach with.
38 min: Alisson wins a 50-50 ball with Muani, is unable to carry on to it after which has to win one other 50-50 with Kudus after the ball is hoyed in direction of no-mans land close to the sting of the Liverpool field. Good(ish) goalkeeping.
37 min: Florian Wirtz performs a give and go along with Kerkez earlier than ferreting his manner into the Tottenham penalty space and pulling the ball again in direction of Ekitike. Spurs clear earlier than he can get a shot away.
34 min: The one scant comfort for Tottenham is that Simons would possibly as properly not have been on the sector for the opening half-hour. That snide, nasty, utterly unnecessary foul on Van Dijk was his first contribution of word since he acquired the ball rolling at kick-off. On the plus facet for Simons, he will get Christmas and the brand new yr off.
Pink card! Spurs are right down to 10 males!
33 min: Xavi Simons is distributed off for an act of significant foul play. The group boo and Xavi Simons complains at nice size however that’s completely the appropriate choice. On the touchline, Thomas Frank additionally has a moan. Tottenham are right down to 10 males.
30 min: Fairly deservedly, Xavi Simmons is booked for raking his studs down the again of Virgil van Dijk’s calf and achilles after the Liverpool defender had given him the slip. That is likely to be upgraded to a pink and he can haven’t any complaints if that’s the case. There’s an onfield overview of a daft problem!
27 min: With loads of purpose to goal at, Randal Kolo Muani heads weakly and straight at Alisson after connecting with a Djed Spence ball again throughout the face of purpose from a Pedro Porro cross. That’s a nasty miss.
25 min: Each goalkeepers are taking aeons over their goal-kicks, splitting their central defenders, passing the ball to one in all them after which all three simply stand round over the useless ball ready Emi Martinez model for an opposition press that by no means comes. The most cost effective grownup season ticket costs at Tottenham are £856, in case you’d prefer to go and watch this nonsense frequently.
21 min: Alert to impending hazard, Micky van de Ven sprints out in direction of the left flank to stop Ekitike controlling a low Florian Wirtz move from deep. He places the ball out for a throw-in. Liverpool win a nook however nothing comes of it. A vaguely promising Spurs counter-attack breaks down when Lucas Bergvall elects to show and move the ball backwards regardless of having teammates up in assist. Like I mentioned, cautious.
19 min: Djed Spence advances up the within left and cuts inside Conor Bradley, who slips to offer his reverse quantity a transparent run on purpose. The Spurs full-back is penalised for a foul and reacts furiously. He had discovered himself in a really promising place on the left facet of the Liverpool field.
18 min: Spurs advance, with Liverpool’s gamers refusing to be drawn in direction of them in any type of press. Pedestrian might be probably the most apt time period to explain the tempo at which this match is at the moment being performed. Each groups are being extraordinarily cautious.
16 min: Porro launches the ball upfield and it’s trapped expertly by Kudus, who instantly undoes his good work by tripping over it. He had a few males in white shirts up in assist.
15 min: Kudus picks out a Porro overlap and the Spaniard’s whipped cross from the appropriate is headed properly extensive by Kolo Muani on the close to put up.
11 min: Florian Wirtz performs the ball out extensive to Bradley, who overhits his cross into the Spurs penalty space. Spurs clear however referee John Brooks whistles for a foul when Mohammed Kudus leaps into Alexis Mac Allister with out making any actual effort to contest a excessive ball. Virgil van Dijk outjumps Micky van de Ven to fulfill Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick however nods the ball straight at Vicario.
8 min: Ibrahima Konate tries to ship Ekitike on his manner with a protracted ball ahead from deep. Christian Romero has the Liverpool striker’s measure however does seem to wrestle him to the bottom proper on the sting of the Tottenham Hotspur penalty space. It was undoubtedly a foul however no free-kick or penalty is awarded to the guests.
7 min: Each side are tentatively feeling their manner into the sport, which is a well mannered manner of claiming the opening couple of minutes have been extraordinarily uninteresting.
5 min: A cross from the appropriate into the Liverpool penalty space is barely half-cleared by Bradley and breaks kindly for Randal Kolo Muani within the penalty space. His snap shot is subsequently blocked by Liverpool’s younger Northern Eire worldwide.
3 min: Hugo Ekitike goes down, holding his face after being caught by a stray proper arm from Djed Spence as he gave the Liverpool striker the slip. There was no malice supposed but it surely seemed fairly painful. He will get therapy and is OK to proceed.
2 min: The ball’s performed down the left touchline for Milos Kerkez to chase and he whips a low cross into the Tottenham penalty space. It fails to clear the primary defender.
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool is go …
1 min: Xavi Simons will get the ball rolling for Tottenham, rolling it again in direction of Guglielmo Vicario, who launches it upfield. Conor Bradley after which Pedro Porro additionally get early touches.
Not lengthy now: Soundtracked by Duel of the Fates by John Williams and led by John Brooks and his staff of match officers, each units of gamers march on to the pitch and line up forward of kick-off, which is simply a few minutes away.
Collectively Towards Suicide: Christmas may be an especially tough time of yr for many individuals and it’s encouraging to see Tottenham’s gamers carrying particular T-shirts throughout their warm-up.
They’ve “Collectively Towards Suicide” printed on the entrance and the variety of the Samaritans (116-123, for these within the UK) on the again. “By way of Collectively Towards Suicide, the Premier League and its golf equipment are supporting followers affected by suicide or suicidal ideas,” reads the highest flight’s web site.
“Working in partnership with suicide prevention charity Samaritans, the League is dedicated to serving to followers that want it most, with confidential assist. Each suicide is a tragedy. Collectively we will make a distinction.”
Premier League desk: Manchester Metropolis’s 3-0 win over West Ham means they leapfrog Arsenal to go prime of the desk for just a few hours at the least. Having began the day in seventh and eleventh locations respectively, outcomes earlier this afternoon imply Liverpool drop to eighth and Tottenham Hotspur at the moment are thirteenth forward of kick-off in North London.
Liverpool: Curtis Jones has revealed Mo Salah apologised to the Liverpool squad for the fallout from his interview criticising the membership and Arne Slot earlier than hightailing it to Morocco for Afcon. Andy Hunter experiences …
Tottenham Hotspur: Thomas Frank has requested for time and endurance from Tottenham followers who’re more and more annoyed by his staff’s stodgy performances. Whether or not or not he’s given both might properly hinge on the efficiency of his staff in tonight’s match, regardless of the outcome. David Hytner experiences …
At the moment’s match officers
These groups: Hugo Ekitike begins up entrance for Liverpool, with Alexander Isak consigned to the bench for the third Premier League match in a row. Dominik Szoboszlai is match sufficient to take his place in Liverpool’s midfield, whereas Conor Bradley returns from suspension to take his place at right-back. As anticipated, Jeremie Frimpong is among the many substitutes.
Considerably surprisingly, Thomas Frank makes only one change from the facet that began towards Nottingham Forest final weekend. Lucas Bergvall comes into midfield to facilitate Randal Kolo Muani’s transfer up entrance instead of Richarlison.
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool line-ups
Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Grey, Bentancur, Bergvall; Kudus, Kolo Muani, Simons.
Subs: Kinsky, Dragusin, Danso, Palhinha, Richalison, Tel, Johnson, Odobert, Davies.
Liverpool: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones; Szoboszlai, Ekitike, Wirtz.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Isak, Chiesa, Robertson, Frimpong, Nyoni, Ramsay, Ngumoha, Fortunate.
Early staff information
James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Radu Dragusin and Koto Takai stay sidelined for Tottenham, whereas Pape Mater Sarr and Yves Bissouma are away at Afcon.
As beforehand talked about, Mo Salah can be away in Morocco with Egypt, whereas Dominik Szoboszlai, who together with Pedro Porro is one reserving away from getting Christmas off, will bear a late health check on the ankle damage that compelled him off the pitch throughout Liverpool’s win over Brighton final weekend.
Joe Gomez has been dominated out with a hamstring damage, whereas Wataru Endo, Cody Gakpo and Giovanni Leoni are additionally unavailable. Conor Bradley is again from suspension and Jeremie Frimpong has been handed match and can be within the squad after two months out.
Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the venue for in the present day’s late-afternoon skirmish between two sides at the moment engaged in a spirited race to see who can look extra profoundly confused by the idea of defending.
Spurs come into this one recent from a 3-0 shellacking by the hands of Nottingham Forest, a efficiency that would scarcely have been extra listless and ramped up the stress on Thomas Frank. They’re, in fact, lacking half a squad to damage and Afcon, with long-term absentees James Maddison and Dominic Solanke nonetheless inhabiting the therapy room, whereas Yves Bissouma (Mali) and Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal) benefit from the balmy heat of West Africa—a luxurious not afforded to Spurs followers at the moment shivering in North London.
Liverpool, in the meantime, arrive as defending champions in identify solely, their title defence having hit an iceberg someplace round mid-October. Whereas they’re unbeaten in 5 in all competitinos, Arne Slot continues to be coping with the fallout of the Salah-gate, however with the Egyptian King additionally away at Afcon, Liverpool’s Dutch head coach can at the least concentrate on whether or not Hugo Ekitike can proceed his one-man mission to show that Alexander Isak is little greater than a really costly decoy.
The final time these two met, Liverpool received 5-1, however given each groups’ latest penchant for slapstick comedy on the again, we could possibly be in for something from a 0-0 snoozefest to a 12-goal thriller that leaves the tactical analysts needing a lie-down in a darkened room. Kick-off is at 5.30pm (GMT) however keep tuned within the meantime for staff information and build-up.