Stop me when you’ve heard this before. Liverpool score through a wunderstrike from Dominik Szoboszlai and go on to dominate possession, but fail to put any of their additional chances away. With a late lead, the Reds look like they may just skate by and jump up a couple places in the table. Instead, they have a moment of madness in the back and concede as the match enters added on time, dropping points from a winning position. It’s almost laughable how predictable it has become this season.
Below, we take a look at some winners and losers on the night, and attempt to disentangle narrative from fact.
For the fourth time this season, Szoboszlai scored a gorgeous direct free kick in the Premier Leage. Against Spurs, Dom didn’t get quite as much swerve as he may have liked, but he had plenty of power to beat the keeper after getting it over the wall and then dropping it below the crossbar.
As always, Szoboszlai put in a full effort outside of the goal effort. Deployed at right back, he played provider with his deliveries into the box, and frequently also found Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong on the run down the right. Dom also did his defensive duties.
Man this kid is fun. Rio was a terror down the left flank, beating players with ease on the dribble. He completed 7 of 7 dribbles successfully in the first half alone. Ngumoha showed he was more than just a dribbler, constantly looking to bring others into play, completing 28 of 31 passes. He sent some really nice balls into the middle of the box that his teammates seemed surprised by and slow to react to (probably thanks to being so used to Cody Gakpo’s cut inside and shoot routine).
As always, Alisson showed up when he was needed, making a few really sharp saves when the occasion called for it. He did a fantastic job to hold a low shot from Xavi Simons late in the match with Richarlison lurking to poach. He was left stranded by his defense on the goal, and almost got a foot to the ball. Ali finished with 6 saves on the day.
The German playmaker was at the heart of many Liverpool chances, both on the break and when play was condensed in the attacking third. He let the team with 4 key passes despite only playing 64 minutes. There was a noticeable lack of cohesion in the attack after he came off. He still looks tentative taking his own shots at times, and really should be more selfish inside the box.
Given a rare start in central defense, Gomez was targeted frequently by Spurs and he struggled to deal with balls in the air. While Ibou has been all over the place with regards to form, he at least could be consistently relied upon to win contested headers. Joe, on the other hand, seemed so uncomfortable judging the ball in the air half the time he didn’t even challenge for it.
Turning Possession Into Intent
Liverpool had 63% of the possession and generated 17 shots. From those 17 shots, they created zero (0) big chances and less than 2 expected goals.
It happened yet again. The Reds had chances aplenty that they failed to either get a shot away or bury to take a larger lead. Instead, as we’ve seen so many times this season, Liverpool wilted under the pressure late to concede in the 90th minute to drop points yet again (that was the 8th time this season). And of course, it comes against one of the worst performing sides in Spurs, who have not won a Premier League match in 2026. Andy Robertson seemingly could have headed the ball clear, but instead tried to cushion it back inside for Virgil van Dijk, but instead put the ball in the path of Kolo Muani. Joe Gomez allowed himself to get sucked inside and left Richarlison unmarked as Domonik Szoboszlai was caught further up field. Just a poor sequence all around.
Understanding the Difference Between a Corner Kick and a Goal Kick
Look, I get it. Being a referee and an AR is hard. The game is fast, the margins are narrow, etc. In some cases, however, calls are so obvious it borders on criminal in a low stakes kind of way. There were at least three instances of very clear touches by a Spurs player that should have led to a corner, but were instead called for a goal kick, or in one instance, play on as the goalkeeper slid with the ball a full foot out of bounds.
“I don’t know what happened, I have nothing to say. In the last minute, again, I don’t know how many times this season already. We have to wake up.”
-Dominik Szoboszlai after Liverpool conceded their 8th Premier League goal after the 90th minute this season (for a total of 11 dropped points).
Liverpool play a must-win match against Galatasaray on Wednesday in the Champions League round of 16. The Reds carry a 0-1 deficit entering the match. Liverpool will return to Premier League play next Saturday with a trip to Brighton.
