Tottenham and Liverpool split the spoils in hard-fought 2-2 draw

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LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 19: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur scores their side’s first goal during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 19, 2021, in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images ) /

After two weeks without a match, Tottenham Hotspur came out ready to play and went toe-to-toe with Liverpool in a 2-2 draw in north London.

Spurs started the match strongly

Any concern that Tottenham was going to be lethargic following their two-week Covid layoff was quickly put to rest and fans were treated to an open and exciting football match. Rather than a tentative, unsure team, Spurs looked like a proper football squad to start the match, quick to move forward and dangerous on the counter-attack.

Strong in the challenge and attack-minded with the ball, signs that Antonio Conte is in charge continue to develop for Spurs. Harry Winks – who got his second start under Conte in league play – was particularly bright for Tottenham, as he launched multiple balls forward which created opportunities for Spurs.

It was a Winks tackle, which got the opening goal going for Tottenham. Winksy was the first to a loose ball in the middle of the park winning the ball on the slide. Dele Alli – starting for the first time under Conte – played the ball first-time back to Davinson Sanchez, who collected and pushed the ball back forward to Tanguy Ndombele.

The ball backward gave Harry Kane just enough time to reset himself and get back onside as Ndombele was turning and sliding the ball through to Kane past the defenders. Kane ran onto the ball and finished well into the far corner past an onrushing Allison for the 1-0 Spurs lead with just 13-minutes expired in the match.

The goal was the kind of quick start and early lead Tottenham needed to put the pressure on Liverpool, however, a surprising lack of quality in the final third, left the door open for Liverpool to come back.

Tottenham is unable to capitalize on first-half chances

After that first goal, Spurs had Liverpool a bit on the ropes but were unable to capitalize and get a second. Kane and Heung-min Son both had multiple chances on the counter to increase Spurs margin but both failed to come up with the key pass and finish when the opportunity presented itself.

On one break, Kane’s pass was just a bit too bouncy and Son’s lunging effort went wide. On another Kane’s pass was just too far in front of Son allowing Allison to come out and collect the ball just in front of Son.

Possibly the biggest missed opportunity was when Son held the ball up and managed to cut the ball back to an onrushing Dele whose first-time effort was on target but parried aside by the fingertips of Allison.

Had Tottenham managed to finish any of those opportunities, it could have been a different match. Instead, Spurs failed to leverage a few good first-half chances and Liverpool slowly turned the screws and picked up the pressure.

Eventually, the consistent pressure and an animated Jurgen Klopp led to Robertson getting around the corner and chipping a little cross back into Diego Joto who headed it home. As Liverpool continued to push, Spurs held firm and the match went into halftime tied at 1 a-piece.