Liverpool weren’t at their best against Tottenham on Sunday evening, and they should still have come away with the victory given they scored in injury time to put themselves ahead.
It wasn’t to be, however, with a controversial penalty taking victory from their grasp. Any cold and calculated assessment of the game would have to conclude that Jurgen Klopp’s side were perhaps deserving of little more than a point on the balance of play, however.
As the home team, Liverpool struggled to see much of the ball against a Spurs side who dominated possession. That partly has to do with the styles of play imposed by both teams, but it also has a little to do with the fact that the Reds scored early through Mohamed Salah and were happy to play on the break after that.
Still, a midfield trio of Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and James Milner was unable to really stamp its authority on the game.
A quick glance at James Milner’s stats proves it.
His 41 touches of the ball is just one more than Dejan Lovren, who managed 40 from centre back in a game where Liverpool’s defenders were hardly involved in recycling play against a deep-seated opposition. No, Liverpool’s midfield were simply overrun.
What Milner did do, however, was tidy. He completed 83% of his passes – the highest of any Liverpool player and much higher than his side’s overall average of just 68% – and he even played one key pass before being taken off. As a central midfielder in a top six Premier League clash which finished 2-2, though, you might have expected Milner to be more involved.
Jurgen Klopp will say his side were robbed by poor officiating, others will argue that Liverpool should have won given they retook the lead so late in the game. In the end, though, their midfield simply couldn’t live with Tottenham’s. And that’s the most worrying part ahead of the return of the Champions League this month.