Gareth Southgate will be pleased to see Harry Kane in such fine form so close to the World Cup, with the Spurs striker firing in an excellent goal for the hosts. He would have been less encouraged by Eric Dier’s error for Liverpool’s second and the defender – playing on the right of a back three – struggled to contain Darwin Nunez.
Ryan Sessegnon put in a decent audition for a left wing-back role with the national team, following Ben Chilwell’s injury, but Liverpool’s right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold once again showed the strengths and weaknesses of his game – pinging brilliant passes across the pitch but then too often struggling in his one-on-one battles when he defends.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp: “Mo had a slow start but was involved in the most chances in Europe but didn’t take them, that’s completely normal for a striker. But when you look back on his career everyone will remember one of the best strikers they ever saw because the numbers will be insane.
“What pleased me tonight was he scored two goals then played like a real team player, although I was not surprised about it. It was all about first defending then you’ll get your chances again. Really pleased for him, top performance.
“Winning here is incredibly difficult. We have to show the attitude, the commitment to defending all the time. We have to show we’re not punched too hard when we concede a goal. I liked that tonight. I didn’t want to concede but I thought the reaction was good. This is not the start or whatever [of a recovery], we’re in a phase. But tonight we couldn’t reach more than three points and we got them and that’s massive.”
