16 December 2013

LIVERPOOL GO SECOND IN PREMIER LEAGUE WITH 5-0 THRASHING OF SPURS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRe2H52d_ho

Attendance: 36069

Tottenham Hotspur

0 - 5

90'

Liverpool

• Luis Suárez 18'
• Jordan Henderson 40'
• John Flanagan 75'
• Luis Suárez 84'
• Raheem Sterling 89'

SHOTS (ON GOAL)
TACKLES
FOULS
POSSESSION

Tottenham Hotspur
9(0)
21
17
44%

56%

Liverpool
20(10)
23
15

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

LINE-UP
POS	No	Name
G	25	Hugo Lloris
D	2	Kyle Walker
D	15	Etienne Capoue
D	16	Kyle Naughton
D	35	Ezekiel Fryers
D	20	Michael Dawson
M	7	Aaron Lennon
M	8	Paulinho
M	19	Mousa Dembele
F	17	Andros Townsend
M	21	Nacer Chadli
M	30	Sandro
M	14	Lewis Holtby
F	9	Roberto Soldado

SUBSTITUTES
POS	No	Name
G	24	Brad Friedel
D	35	Ezekiel Fryers
M	14	Lewis Holtby
M	22	Gylfi Sigurdsson
F	11	Erik Lamela
F	17	Andros Townsend
F	18	Jermain Defoe

LIVERPOOL

Full Time Tottenham 0 Liverpool 5

Nothing here we didn’t know already.

Spurs, once again, carried far too little goal threat on their own patch. Their play was too slow and predictable. They carried no threat with Soldado isolated and ineffective in attack. There’s no tempo to this Spurs team when it plays like this, no urgency, no speed, no flair, and no chance of beating the better teams in this division without significant improvement.

Whether Andre Villas Boas is still around to try and effect that change remains to be seen. Daniel Levy cut an unimpressed figure in the main stand as his £93m team was dismantled.

Liverpool were superb. Raheem Sterling set the tone early, nailing Kyle Naughton to the wall with a dynamic first half display. Jordan Henderson had one of his best games for the club, and scored the second, while young full back Jon Flanagan was mobbed by team mates after scoring his first for the club.

But Luis Suarez stole the show once again, with two more beautifully taken goals, and two assists besides, to take his tally this season to 17 from 12 appearances – two more than Tottenham have managed in total this campaign. Therein lies the difference.

90+2 min Suarez plays in substitute Victor Moses who drills through the six yard box - nobody on hand to convert a sixth.

90 min Jon Moss adds three minutes. White Hart Lane emptying fast. Long old walk down the Seven Sisters High Road in this weather after this result.

GOAL!!! Tottenham Hotspur 0 LIVERPOOL 5 (Raheem Sterling 89 min)
Suarez adds a second assist of the day to his two goals with a cute through ball for Sterling who calmly finishes past Lloris for a fifth goal. Nothing more than Liverpool deserve, and particularly satifying for Sterling whose early wing play laid the platform for this wonderful performance and away win.

85 min Liverpool toying with Spurs, they could score at will here.

GOAL!!! Tottenham Hotspur 0 LIVERPOOL 4 (Luis Suarez 83 min)
It's a thrashing. Suarez played in behind the hapless Dawson again, Lloris rushes from his line in typical fashion, and the Liverpool man calmly lifts the ball into the unguarded goal. Five still to play, you'd be a fool to back against another hat trick.

82 min Liverpool fans cheering the passes, and they would have had a fourth goal to celebrate had Sterling brought a perfect Suarez pass under control rather than poking it through to Lloris. Seconds later Coutinho is in, but he slips over.

79 min Frustrated with their team, angry with the officials, cold, wet, fed up - some Spurs fans arte leaving early, others are starting a steady hand clap. If somebody is in the North Lincolnshire area and free to pop round to remove the sharp objects and shoe laces from my step dad's place that would be brilliant.

77 min A final, final warning for Holtby, who is on a booking and furious that Moss judges his fair-looking shoulder challenge as a foul. He beats the ground in frustration/dissent and is given a long talking to by the official. Spurs don't need to be going to down to nine here. Liverpool send on Alberto for Lucas.

GOAL!!! Tottenham Hotspur 0 LIVERPOOL 3 (Jon Flanagan 74 min)
Game set and match. A big moment for Liverpool fan Flanagan who arrives late at the back post and fairly hammers a cross from Suarez into the roof of the net off the underside of the bar. Spectacular finish, and a pile on by the corner flag involving every outfield Liverpool player.

73 min Suarez cuts in from the left after Henderson won the ball back in the Spurs half. Coutinho receives a pass and bends it wide of the top corner. Those three have been excellent today.

70 min Suarez spins in behind, onside, but takes the ball too wide and fires into the side net. Corner looks a generous decision, and will immediately be followed by another. Spurs survive.

65 min Tottenham have gone altogether now. Lewis Holtby hacks into Joe Allen and takes the latest yellow card. They'll do well not to lose more players for a hectic Christmas fixture list, and several more goals, if it keeps going like this.

62 min It never rains.... Paulinho is sent off for Spurs. Suarez gets to to a bouncing ball first, Paulinho hangs out a leg, and leaves it hanging out there, delivering studs into the stomach of the Uruguayan striker who is now down in a heap. Jon Moss is quick with the red card which, on second viewing, is probably the right decision. Cut to a shot of Daniel Levy, slowly stroking the blade of a large axe.

60 min That's it then, Villas-Boas plays his final card with Townsend on for the anonymous Dembele. Toronto's lovely this time of year Jermain.

58 min Doing my best to spark some interest in this second half by hexing Liverpool, and it nearly works as first Soldado crashes to earth in the area trying to seize on a low cross - big penalty appeal that one, we await a replay - then Lennon brings a loose ball down and sees a shot blocked away. Is there life in Tottenham yet? Andros Townsend, rather than Jermain Defoe, looks like he's going to be the home team's final change.

57 min Fryers wins a free kick in a decent spot wide on the left... Skrtel heads clear. I've seen Andrex puppies with more threat than this Spurs side.

56 min Right. Let's see. Holtby wins Spurs a corner... Flanagan heads clear.

53 min More purposeful wing play from Sterling wins Liverpool's seventh corner of the game but Spurs clear. Liverpool are quick, and organised, and confident, and playing at a scary tempo; Spurs are ponderous, and laboured, and lacking in leadership, and devoid of ideas. It will be an incredible turn around if the London side get anything from this game.

50 min Mignolet makes a mess of a routine deep cross, Soldado hooks the loose ball over.

48 min Spurs want a free kick for a foul on Holtby on halfway, but in truth he was caught dallying in possession and Moss is right to allow Liverpool to continue with a counter attack that ends with Coutinho hitting a deflected shot wide. The resulting corner is cleared partially but when it's returned by Coutinho it seems harder for Sakho to miss from a yard out but he somehow finds the post with a firm header. Should be game over. A lame chant of "Come on you Spurs" carries similar conviction to the home team's attack.

46 min Soldado should score. Not a good start to the half from Spurs who give the ball away three times in quick succession, sparking groans among the home support, but suddenly the Spanish forward is into the left channel of the penalty box with nobody around him and he should do much more than simply lash the ball over the bar.

17.00 Villas Boas is twisting again. Having already had to replace injured Sandro with Lewis Holtby, he's now taken off Kyle Naughton for young Zeki Fryers. Naughton was toasted by Raheem Sterling in the first half, and was carrying an injury from Thursday night'sd European action anyway. Tottenham, 2-0 down and not in the game, now only have one substitution left.

Half Time Tottenham 0 Liverpool 2

Liverpool two goals up at half time, Spurs booed off at the break, the traffic flowing entirely one way.

Raheem Sterling set the tone, skinning Kyle Naughton several times early on to stretch and a panic a Tottenham defence that has found Michael Dawson and Etienne Capoue badly exposed and out of their depth.

The visitors have scored twice - Suarez feeding on a powerful run from midfield by Henderson to beautifully slide in the opening goal, and then Henderson converting at the second attempt after goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had denied both him and Suarez with fine saves.

A mildly controversial moment when Soldado was harshly penalised for nudging Mignolet off a dodgy back pass aside, Spurs have offered nothing. Fire and brimstone for their half time - cigars and port in the Liverpool dressing room.

45 min Two extra minutes before a really big half time team talk for Andre Villas Boas. He might even have to clear his throat a bit for this one.

42 min Referee Jon Moss bursts onto the scene. Sakho's pass back is the work of a demented maniac and requires Mignolet to pull a ball out of the sky under pressure from Soldado. The Belgian keeper knows what he wants, and the second he feels contact in his back from the Spurs man he hits the deck. Soldado rolls it into the empty net. Free kick to Liverpool. Inevitable decision, but generous all the same.

42 min Flanagan pushes the ball past Walker and asks a question of the Spurs' full back's pace. Walker hauls the LIverpool man to the ground and takes a yellow card.

41 min Which of course means my shoes are safe for another week at least.

GOAL!! Tottenham Hotspur 0 LIVERPOOL 2 (Jordan Henderson 39 min)
Well you can't help but feel for Lloris, but it's nothing more than Liverpool deserve. Suarez cuts Spurs' high defensive line apart with a neat touch into Henderson who draws a brilliant save from the French goalkeeper in a one on one situation. The ball breaks to Suarez who thinks he's lobbed home a second only for Lloris to rise miraculously from the ground and save a second time but the ball falls back to Henderson who makes no mistake second time around. Lloris vs The World, and The World is now 2-0 up.

38 min Precarious nature of a 1-0 lead shown by Soldado cutting the ball back for Holtby to shoot wide with Mignolet beaten. If this game carries on in this manner I'll eat my own shoes if it stays 1-0.

37 min After a quiet spell the obliteration of Kyle Naughton by Raheem Sterling recommences as the winger robs the full back of possession and sees a shot deflected through to Lloris.

35 min The only negative for a dominant Liverpool side is that they've only scored once. Spurs not at the races so far.

32 min Much has been said about Hugo Lloris' ability as a sweeper, but the Spurs goalkeeper is mighty, mighty fortunate not to have cost his team a second goal there. A long ball down the field bounces higher off the turf on a freezing evening than the French goalkeeper expected and having headed it straight to Suarez even he must be surprised that the Uruguayan didn't score. Lloris recovers the situation with a leg save.

30 min And for all that Spurs should be level. Liverpool leave Chadli unmarked at a corner and his free header is planted a foot over the bar. Not quite a sitter, but he should have scored.

29 min Here comes Holtby, shorts rolled up to look more like y-fronts for reasons known only to himself, racing onto the field with child-like enthusiasm. Not the person you want to be stuck with on a long train journey one suspects.

27 min Coutinho bounces an improvised volley into the ground,. over Lloris and onto the cross bar. Spurs are panicking, Johnson smells blood and pings a 30 yard shot a foot over the top corner. Sandro is injured, having passed a late fitness test to start the game, and Lewis Holtby is coming in. Spurs listing badly. Women and children into the lifeboats first.

26 min Spurs masters of their own downfall here. A throw in by the Liverpool corner flag quickly turns into a counter attack by the visitors which Michael Dawson interupts with a violent lunge on Jordan Henderson - obvious booking, Dawson's fifth of the season which means a suspension for the midweek League Cup action.

21 min Should be 2-0. Capoue stands still in the middle of the field with his hand in the air but there's no offside flag and Suarez will probably think he should score in a one on one with Lloris, albeit from a tight angle. Tottenham's back four heading to sea in a sieve here.

20 min Dembele tries to get Spurs going again with a powerful run through the heart of the Liverpool team but having worked it wide to Chadli the cross into the area is too high for Lennon at the back post.

GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 0 LIVERPOOL 1 (Luis Suarez 18 min)
Been coming. A sixteenth goal of the season for Luis Suarez who finishes with a smooth swagger after picking the ball up from Henderson on the edge of the area and slaloming past leaden footed Michael Dawson before scoring in the far corner.

16 min Raheem Sterling at the heart of good things for Liverpool again - this time he scoots around Capoue and crosses low to the near post where Naughton turns it behind for the third Liverpool corner in as many minutes. Actually, make that four, because while everbody thinks the ball is going out for a goal kick it hits the corner flag, stays in, and Liverpool react first to win another set piece. That's cleared but here goes Sterling again, skinning Chadli this time before crossing low and testing Lloris' handling.

14 min Liverpool growing into this game. The visitors commit six men to a quick attack, swamping the area and creating panic during which Suarez appears to be tripped right on the edge of the box but just about manages to get a deflected shot in just past the post regardless.

13 min Sterling 2 Naughton 0. The little winger winds the ball back from Paulinho, then tricks Nuaghton for a second time and wins a pressure relieving free kick for his team.

10 min Sterling gets one on one with Naughton for the first time and he expresses himself with a step over before extracting a free kick right on the edge of the penalty area. Coutinho's low cross is cleared as far as Allen who wants a penalty for an alleged handling of his shot. Lloris nervously punches the ball clear as it drops out of the sky.

6 min Soldado, going nowhere, hemmed in by the touchline, gets a receipt with the purchase of a free kick from Skirtel. Now Spurs can deliver to the heart of the penalty area.... Walker's kick is far too long, with weak penalty appeals for Flanagan pulling Paulinho's shirt in the crowd scene underneath.

5 min It's like a wasps nest at the moment. Everybody rushing around at a frantic pace, seemingly at random but presumably with some masterful gameplan and overall aim in mind. Spurs having marginally the better of it, Paulinho sticks their first serious effort on goal over the bar.

2 min Actually, Tottenham have learnt nothing from their slow start at Man City and defensive confusion creates a situation where Coutinho is unmarked, in the area, with the ball at his feet, but even he seems surprised and he stubs it wide.

1 min Liverpool, all in red and kicking left to right as I'm watching (added for colour rather than relevance), want to get a touch of the ball early on but Spurs have learnt from their slow start at Man City and Soldado chases Mignolet down in the opening ten seconds and worries him into a rushed clearance into the side stand.

16.00 Football. Now.

15.58 Martin Tyler says it's "liiiive" and indeed it is, after this word from an in-play betting company.

Caption competition....

15.55 Teams in the tunnel, Luis Suarez captains Liverpool in Steven Gerrard's absence. Here they come, referee Jon Moss goes through the latest addition to the pre-match nonsense - picking the matchball up off a special plynth at the side of the pitch. If they keep adding this stuff season on season we'll soon have to start kicking games off 15 minutes later to fit it all in.

15.30 Liverpool are fifth, five points off the top, with seven wins from eight home games, and 11 more points than they had at this stage last season. But any potential tilt at the title is being undermined by severe travel sickness. They've won just two of eight away games this year in all competitions, and none of the last four. A 3-1 set back at newly promoted Hull last time out was not the performance of potential champions and they come to Spurs without midfield talisman Steven Gerrard.

15.15 Spurs spent £93m in the summer, and although that was funded almost entirely by the Spanish Bale out it still raised expectations to a point where seventh place - behind Liverpool, Everton and Newcastle at the start of play - will be a big disappointment to the board. But new players take time to settle, and restructured teams rarely hit their stride immediately.

A 6-0 defeat at Man City cranked up the pressure on manager Andre Villas Boas, but given what City have done to Man Utd and Arsenal at Eastlands this season perhaps that wasn't quite the shocking result it appeared at the time. Spurs have won four and drawn one of five since then and striker Roberto Soldado's hat trick in Europe during the week suggests he's hitting his stride after a slow start.

Villas Boas' persistent fascination with trying to get rid of Jermain Defoe is perplexing, especially with only Emmanuel Adebayor in his full on permanent-contract-in-the-bag mode as real striker cover, but the green shoots of recovery are there and an awkward beginning to the season has only left the North London outfit eight points adrift of the leaders.

15.00 The teams line up like this...

Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Capoue, Dawson, Naughton; Paulinho, Sandro; Lennon, Dembele, Chadli; Soldado.
Subs: Friedel, Fryers, Holtby, Lamela, Townsend, Sigurdsson, Defoe.

Liverpool: Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan; Allen, Lucas; Henderson, Countinho, Sterling; Suarez
Subs: Jones, Toure, Agger, Kelly, Alberto, Moses, Aspas

White Hart Lane
Kick-off: 16.00 GMT.
TV: Live Sky Sports 1, Highlights, BBC ONE Match of the Day2.

Tottenham (Possible, 4-2-3-1): Lloris, Walker, Capoue, Dawson, Naughton; Dembélé, Paulinho; Lennon, Holtby, Townsend; Soldado.
Out: Vertonghen (ankle).
Tests: Rose, Eriksen (match fitness), Chiriches (knee), Kaboul (quad).

Liverpool (Possible, 4-1-4-1): Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan; Allen; Coutinho, Lucas, Henderson, Sterling; Suárez.
Out: Coates, Enrique (both knee), Gerrard (hamstring), Sturridge (ankle).

Referee: Jonathan Moss. Matches: 7, R1 Y30.

Betting: Home 8-5, Away 13-8, Draw 12-5.

Team News

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas will assess defender Danny Rose and midfielder Christian Eriksen over the weekend before deciding whether they should start against Liverpool on Sunday.

Rose and Eriksen returned from long lay-offs on Thursday against Anzhi Makhachkala, but Villas-Boas is wary of rushing them back into league action following their respective toe and ankle injuries.

Defender Jan Vertonghen is out with an ankle injury while centre-backs Vlad Chiriches and Younes Kaboul are doubts.

Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a hamstring strain and will miss Sunday's match at Tottenham.

Defensive midfielder Lucas Leiva, dropped for last weekend's 4-1 win at home to West Ham, is set to deputise for the England international.

Striker Daniel Sturridge and left-back Jose Enrique are still sidelined by injury but centre-back Daniel Agger returns after illness.

LINE-UP
POS	No	Name
G	22	Simon Mignolet
D	2	Glen Johnson
D	17	Mamadou Sakho
D	37	Martin Skrtel
D	38	John Flanagan
M	14	Jordan Henderson
M	21	Lucas
M	6	Luis Alberto
M	24	Joe Allen
F	7	Luis Suárez
F	10	Philippe Coutinho
M	12	Victor Moses
F	31	Raheem Sterling

SUBSTITUTES
POS	No	Name
G	1	Brad Jones
D	4	Kolo Touré
D	5	Daniel Agger
D	34	Martin Kelly
M	6	Luis Alberto
M	9	Iago Aspas
M	12	Victor Moses

MATCH STATS

Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool

9(0)	Shots (on goal)	20(10)
17	Fouls	15
2	Corner kicks	9
0	Offsides	4
44%	Time of Possession	56%
3	Yellow Cards	0
1	Red Cards	0
5	Saves	0

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16 December 2013

LIVERPOOL GO SECOND IN PREMIER LEAGUE WITH 5-0 THRASHING OF SPURS

SHOTS (ON GOAL)

TACKLES

FOULS

POSSESSION