Although they might have picked up three important points against Tottenham, one Liverpool player really struggled in their 2-1 win in north London. And Arne Slot needs to consider benching him moving forward.
Hoping to make it three consecutive wins in all competitions, the Reds made a tentative start to proceedings, as did the hosts. However, the game took a turn for the worse for Spurs when Xavi Simons needlessly flew into Virgil van Dijk and caught him high on the back of his leg. VAR sent referee John Brooks to the screen, with the official then electing to show a straight red card.
Liverpool weren’t able to find a breakthrough before half-time, and emerged from the break with more attacking intent. Bringing on Alexander Isak for Conor Bradley, the Swede repaid the faith shown in him 11 minutes later as he swept home Florian Wirtz’s through ball — although he was forced off with an injury because of Micky van de Ven’s attempted sliding tackle.
Tottenham came close to equalising when Randal Kolo Muani’s deflected effort struck the bar on a rare venture forward, but their opponents doubled their advantage when Hugo Ekitike rose highest to head home Jeremie Frimpong’s cross. Although Thomas Frank’s side got one back through Richarlison, any hopes of a comeback were eliminated when Cristian Romero was needlessly sent off after receiving a second yellow for kicking out at Ibrahima Konate.