Premier League 2, First Division 2018-19
               Anfield, Liverpool
           Friday 17th August 2018, 7pm

              LIVERPOOL  v   SPURS
              (All Red)   (White/Blue)
               4-2-3-1      4-1-4-1

                 1(1)         1(1)

      Caoimhin Kelleher  1  Alfie Whiteman
          Corey Whelan(C)2  Tariq Hinds
             Adam Lewis  3  Jaden Brown
     Nathaniel Phillips  4  George Marsh(C)
        George Johnston  5  Japhet Tanganga
       Pedro Chirivella  6  Timothy Eyoma
         Bobby Adekanye  7  Marcus Edwards
  Issac Christie-Davies  8  Paris Maghoma
           Glen McAuley  9  Troy Parrott
           Matty Virtue 10  Shayon Harrison
           Curtis Jones 11  Anthony Georgiou

            Liam Miller 12  Jack Roles
              (9)64Mins
           Dan Atherton 13  Jonathan De Bie
         Tony Gallacher 14  Dylan Duncan
                            (7)90Mins
        Conor Masterson 15  Jonathan Dinzeyi
                            (3)85Mins
             Liam Coyle 16
              (8)73Mins

Scorers:-
            Adekanye 14     Edwards 23

Booked:-
                            Georgiou 26(Foul)
                            Maghoma 38(Pull)
                            Duncan 90+2(Foul)

Sent off:-                  Tanganga, 2 
                            (Handball on goal-line)

Coaches:-
          Neil Critchley    Wayne Burnett

Attendance:– 3114

Referee:– J. Johnson
Assistants:– D. Hunt & J. Bickerdike
Fourth Official:– G. Myers 

Spurs travelled to Anfield having lost their first game at home to West Ham on Monday whilst Liverpool were held to a draw at Brighton a week ago. Last season Liverpool made a long unbeaten start to the season which saw them beat Spurs 4-2 at Anfield.

Spurs lined up with Whiteman in goal behind Tanganga and Eyoma with Hinds at right back and Brown on the left. Captain Marsh anchored the midfield with Maghoma and Harrison ahead of him. They were flanked by Edwards on the right and Georgiou on the left in support of Parrott up front. The young Irishman got his first start due to the injury to Tracey on Monday evening.

Spurs made a bad start kicking off the first half attacking the Kop. They lost the ball and Whiteman had to save. The keeper threw the ball out to the left straight to Lewis who put in a high cross. Whiteman compounded his error by dropping the ball at the feet of McAuley who moved it onto his left foot and fired at Tanganga on the line. The defender moved his arm to the ball and was promptly sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity. There was a little confusion as Tanganga had the wrong number on his shirt as compared to the teamsheet. The Liverpool captain took responsibility for the penalty but fired it over the bar to Spurs' relief.

Marsh dropped into the back four as Spurs re-organised to form two banks of four with Parrott playing a lone role up front. Edwards tried to make one of his twisting runs and almost lost his shorts to his marker. The lively Adekanye fired wide and shot over after being played in by McAuley before he put the home side in front. The ball was played forward to McAuley who played in Akekanye on the right. The wideman cut inside before driving low into the corner. The assistant ref had flagged for offside by McAuley but was over-ruled by the ref.

Brown produced a goal-saving block on Adekanye when he was played through by Christie-Davies. Spurs equalised with their first attack when a clearance was controlled by Parrott holding off two defenders. He spotted Edwards on the right and curled the ball into his path so that all he had to do was get into the area and beat the keeper which he did to silence the Kop.

Liverpool continued to press and Georgiou was booked for a late challenge. Whiteman saved from Christie-Davies and Virtue hit a free kick wide. Adekanye fired wide having been played in by Virtue. Maghoma was booked for pulling Virtue in the build-up.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw Liverpool continue to press and Spurs continue to defend. McAuley fired wide and Adekanye drove across the goal. Jones fired over and then drew a save from Whiteman before Liverpool made their first change replacing their striker.

Edwards had another chance when he picked up the loose ball after Parrott harrassed Phillips. Edwards got into the area but the advancing Kellener saved. Having weathered the storm Spurs were getting forward more and Maghoma fired over.

Spurs made their first change with five minutes left replacing Brown with Dinzeyi. The big centreback went alongside Marsh at the back with Eyoma moving to his favoured right back position and Hinds going to left back. Chirivella fired wide from distance and Whiteman saved from Adekanye when he got through on the right. Chirivella played in Millar to hit wide for a corner from which Phillips fired over. Spurs replaced Edwards with Duncan to see out the game and the Spurs sub was booked inside two minutes. Whiteman saved from Virtue in the dying seconds to earn Spurs the draw.

It was a poor start by Spurs losing a player, but they re-organised to stand firm and snatch a point. They could even have won it as Edwards had two more chances. With Liverpool able to push players forward Parrott did a good job including setting up his side's goal. Spurs were very well organised after Tanganga was sent off and restricted the home side to just one goal. Spurs' next game is at Stevenage next Friday when they meet Brighton. This game had been scheduled as a test event at the new stadium, but as we all know the opening of "The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium" has been postponed.

Ray

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