Liverpool 0 Tottenham 0

Spurs, without their manager and a number of first choice players took a hard-earned point from Liverpool at Anfield and having defended for much of the  game could have won it late on with the best chance of the match.

Pre-order: Use Code LH1

Liverpool 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0

Team: Friedel; Walker, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto; Kranjcar (Rose), Livermore, Parker, Modric, Bale; Adebayor (Saha). Subs (unused): Cudicini, Nelsen, Khumalo, Fredericks, Luongo, Lancaster

Brad Friedel

Spurs were satisified with a point at Anfield considering the injuries to crucial players which greatly weakened the team.  Without manager, Harry Redknapp, stranded in London due to fog causing the postponement of his flight to Liverpool, Spurs had also lost Younes Kaboul, Rafael Van der Vaart, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Sandro to injury.  The players who came in as replacements gave their all as the whole team battled to take a deserved point, led by Scott Parker who was everywhere especially during the last fifteen minutes when Liverpool increased the tempo and their efforts to snatch the win. 

In the first half Spurs comfortably repelled Liverpool's attacking threat which mostly involved hoisting high balls towards Andy Carroll.  Michael Dawson stood up well to this test and it was Spurs who had the first shot on target after thirty minutes - a Niko Kranjcar effort which the goalkeeper saved at the second attempt.  

The final fifteen minutes of the half brought a number of attempts on goal without causing either goalkeeper any great difficulty.  A couple of minutes later Liverpool caused their first major threat when a shot from Spearing curled wide with the former Liverpool goalkeeper, Brad Friedel at full stretch.  

As the commentator said, to this point, 'Spurs were coping impressively' and then Friedel had to scramble across his goal to deal with a cross from Johnson.  At the other end, a good run by Emmanuel Adebayor released Kyle Walker on the right and his cross was flicked towards goal by Gareth Bale.  After a long series of passes, Spurs again found Walker whose run and shot was blocked for a corner and in the last action of the half Friedel saved well from Johnson.

In the first half Spurs had been content to sit back and deny Liverpool but after the interval they came under increasing pressure and were finding it difficult to make any forward progress, with Adebayor isolated, and as they looked to threaten Bale was booked for diving.  This seemed to spark Bale and Adebayor into action as Spurs looked more purposeful for a few moments but then Liverpool regained the ascendancy with Friedel being called into action.

With an hour gone, Friedel made a good save, for a corner, from a shot by Kelly and then Agger headed wide from a corner.  Carroll had a header from a corner saved by Friedel.  

Liverpool brought on Luis Suarez with twenty five minutes to play and his introduction lifted the crowd and he was immediately in the action dispossessing Benoit Assou-Ekotto and heading towards goal.  He was then booked for kicking Parker in the stomach, having been on the pitch for only five minutes.

With twenty minutes to go Louis Saha made his Spurs debut replacing Adebayor and he played a good ball to Bale whose shot went wide.  Carroll had a shot over from a cross from the right.  Friedel again bravely punched clear from a dangerous free-kick and earned a free-kick for dangerous play.  

As Liverpool increased their efforts, with six minutes to play, the best chance of the evening fell to Spurs when Bale was put through by a lovely pass from Kranjcar.  Bale had got behind the home defence for the only time in the night to be one on one against Reina but the goalkeeper got a foot to block the shot and the ball was cleared. 

Spurs withstood Liverpool's final efforts to score with Scott Parker putting himself on the line time and time again - to block shots, put in a tackle or get the ball cleared.  As is often said in these circumstances, that was a game Spurs would have lost in the past but it's also a game other 'top' teams would have won, given that late goal scoring opportunity.

Overall, it was a well won point by Spurs, taking into account all the circumstances, and it keeps them just behind United and City but ahead of the chasing pack.  Brad Friedel, Michael Dawson, Scott Parker, Niko Kranjcar and Jake Livermore worked tirelessly throughout the game to deny Liverpool while Ledley King was his usual calming influence, organising those around him in defence.

Scott Parker

The stats from last night show Scott Parker's contribution to Spurs earning a point at Anfield, with many of the blocks and clearances coming in the final minutes at a time in the match when Liverpool were making a fianl effort to take the three points and  and when traditionally Spurs would have wilted under the pressure:

2 tackles
5 interceptions
7 clearances
3 shots blocked
89% passing accuracy

If Tottenham are to put in a challenge for the title then they need to win against Newcastle United on Saturday evening at White Hart Lane and then put together a winning sequence that really threatens the Manchester teams.

Spurs in History - 16th March

16th March, 1912 & 1985
Victory at Anfield

Spurs won the 1st Division game in 1912 by 2-1 through goals from Ernie Newman and Thomas Mason, two players who don’t rank highly in Spurs history making only 39 appearances between them and this was the only goal scored by Mason.

However, events over the next 73 years brought greater significance to their feat that day because in that time no Spurs team won at Anfield. Amazingly, on the exact same date in 1985 Spurs unexpectedly returned to London having won 1-0, thanks to a goal from Garth Crooks. It was a well deserved victory and at last Spurs supporters didn’t have to listen to tales linking the ‘Titanic’ and their results at Anfield.

Bye Bye Jimmy – on this day in 1970 Spurs greatest goalscorer, Jimmy Greaves, was transferred to West Ham United.

Spurs in History - 11th March

Sheringham & klinsmann - Spurs' scorers against Liverpool at Anfield

11th March, 1995

Liverpool 1 Spurs 2 F.A.Cup 6th Round.

One of the truly memorable performances of the decade. Having fought back at Southampton Spurs had a visit to Anfield as their reward but it wasn’t a ground with many happy memories for them.

Liverpool took the lead late in the first half but Teddy Sheringham managed to equalize right at the end of the half.

In the second half Spurs played much better and it looked set for a replay but with two minutes remaining, Sheringham put Jurgen Klinsmann through to score the winner.

A great result for Spurs but sadly it was not built upon as Spurs produced one of their worst semi-final performances when losing to Everton. At the end of the season Klinsmann returned to Germany and Spurs lost ground on the clubs around them and they have been trying to catch up ever since.

11th March, 2001

West Ham United 2 Spurs 3 FA Cup 6th Round

An unexpected hero emerged from the five goal thriller at Upton Park in 2001 when Sergei Rebrov showed why Spurs had spent their record transfer fee to sign him. His two goals and one from Gary Doherty gave George Graham’s team a thrilling victory and another chance to play Arsenal in the semi-finals.

Everything was up-beat at Tottenham after that win but behind the scenes all was not well and within seven days George Graham was gone with Glenn Hoddle to be his eventual successor.

11th March, 1997

Spurs 2 Bristol City 0 FA Cup 5th Round

The 1967 Cup winning trail gave Spurs a home game against 2nd Division Bristol City and it was that man Greaves who again secured Spurs’ passage to the next round. Greaves put Spurs ahead after ten minutes but then the good fortune of Cup winners was again evident in Spurs’ victory as City missed a number of goal scoring opportunities and Pat Jennings was required to save a Bristol penalty in the second half. The penalty was retaken because Jennings moved too soon and the re-take was hit wide. To add insult to injury Greaves scored Spurs’ second goal from the penalty spot in the final minute.

Captain Dave Mackay put the win in perspective, ‘We should have won more easily but few top teams manage to win convincingly against lesser opposition.’