The title initiative now lies in the hands of Manchester City after Liverpool slipped to a 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur, though it was enough to lift the ‘Reds’ top of the league, at least temporarily, and extend their unbeaten Premier League (PL) run at Anfield to 22.
Liverpool’s task was clear – win and they would hit the PL summit, but that incentive didn’t seem to spur the ‘Reds’ into life in the early stages, with Spurs more than holding their own. In fact, the best chance of the opening quarter fell the way of Spurs and Rodrigo Bentancur, who was quickest to a loose ball on the edge of the Liverpool box, but his low drive was smartly stopped by Alisson Becker. Despite being sharp in the press, Liverpool were relatively laboured in the final third by their own exceptionally high standards, perhaps highlighted by the fact their best chance of the half came from a set-piece. Virgil Van Dijk met Trent Alexander-Arnold’s teasing delivery, but saw his header thunder back off the crossbar to preserve Spurs’ HT clean sheet.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg almost breached Liverpool’s rearguard just before the break though, as it was Spurs turn to rattle the woodwork, but Dane’s effort cannoned to safety off the post. Spurs weren’t deterred in their quest to find an opener though and found an unlikely breakthrough before the hour mark. A free-flowing Spurs counter saw Ryan Sessegnon maraude down the left and keep his cool to square for Son Heung-Min to convert from six-yards and leave Liverpool’s quadruple hopes hanging firmly in the balance.
Liverpool were beginning to ramp up the pressure on the Tottenham goal and eventually reaped the rewards in fortunate circumstances. Luis Díaz’s deflected effort wrong-footed Hugo Lloris and sent the Kop into raptures as Spurs prepared for an onslaught in the last 20 minutes. Liverpool are normally good value in front of the Kop, but tonight it was just to be the one goal, as perhaps the most famous stand in world football couldn’t suck in what would’ve been a monumental goal in Liverpool’s quadruple bid. It’s now all eyes on the Etihad Stadium tomorrow, where Liverpool will hope for a favour from Newcastle United.