Spurs have undoubtedly been the surprise package of the season so far, with Ange Postecoglou’s men sitting pretty at the summit of the table after eight Premier League games.

While the most optimistic Tottenham fans do not expect the Lilywhites to stay in that position until the end of the season, they now have a great chance to give themselves some breathing space at the top as they have some fairly winnable fixtures coming up.

Spurs face Fulham, Chelsea and Aston Villa at home over the next few weeks, which they would be expected to win, given their home form and the special atmosphere that has been brewing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season.

They also have two relatively winnable games away at Crystal Palace and Wolves.

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 09: General view of the Premier League logo during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City at Wembley Stadium on December 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Here are Tottenham’s next five league fixtures:

Tottenham

Fulham (H) – Monday, October 23

Crystal Palace (A) – Friday, October 27

Chelsea (H) – Monday, November 6

Wolves (A) – Saturday, November 11

Aston Villa (H) – Sunday, November 26

While Liverpool too have some easy games coming up, both Arsenal and Manchester City have some difficult challenges up ahead, including some difficult away trips.

Arsenal:

Chelsea (A) – Saturday, October 21

Sheffield United (H) – Saturday, October 28

Newcastle United (A) – Saturday, November 4

Burnley (H) – Saturday, 11 November

Brentford (A) – Saturday, 25 November

Manchester City

Brighton (H) – Saturday, October 21

Manchester United (A) – Sunday, October 29

AFC Bournemouth (H) – Saturday, November 4

Chelsea (A) – Sunday, November 12

Liverpool (H) – Saturday, November 25

Liverpool

Everton (H) – Saturday, October 21

Nottingham Forest (H) – Sunday, October 29

Luton Town (A) – Sunday, November 5

Brentford (H) – Sunday, November 12

Man City (A) – Saturday, November 25

Spurs Web Opinion

There are not many easy games in the Premier League and it will be interesting to see how we deal with the pressure of going into the games against the likes of Chelsea and Aston Villa as favourites.  We have a great chance to remain at the top of the table heading into the month of December, which would be a phenomenal achievement.

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Spurs have enjoyed an incredible start to the new season, and James Maddison has been at the heart of everything good the side have done so far. The playmaker has five assists and two goals to his name already in the early stages of his Tottenham career (Transfermarkt).

One of those assists came in the recent 2-1 win over Liverpool, when he played in his Spurs captain Heung-min Son in the first half.

Liverpool would equalise not long after, but fell to defeat in the final moments after Pedro Porro drilled in a cross which Joel Matip put into his own net in injury time.

The game was shrouded in controversy as Liverpool had a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside, and also had Diogo Jota sent off for two very soft yellow cards. The issues led Jurgen Klopp to suggest the game should be replayed (Guardian).

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Maddison says the idea of a replay is in the past

With Maddison on international duty with the England squad, he took the opportunity to share a little joke on his Instagram. Maddison is pictured talking to Trent Alexander-Arnold, and captioned the post: “Still asking for a replay.”

Now, speaking to talkSPORT, the 26-year-old explained what was really going on: “The conversation wasn’t anything to do with that. Just having a bit of banter with Trent.

“Trent is a good friend of mine, we get on really well. Tongue-in-cheek banter. That game is in the past, we were just having a little mess around.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I was worried for a moment that we might have to replay that game against Liverpool, but the league simply can’t allow it to happen as it would set such a dangerous precedent. Mistakes happen, it’s in the past now as Madders says, and it’s good that he can laugh about it with Trent.

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Maddison took to social media to post on his Instagram story (9/10/23) which featured a photo of the pair on England international duty at St. George’s Park along with the caption ‘Still asking for a replay.’

Madders pic.twitter.com/Wb9NH8NSNy

— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) October 9, 2023

The two players were involved in the recent Premier League fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which saw Spurs’ 2-1 win overshadowed by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp‘s suggestion that a replay should take place after the refereeing body, the PGMOL, were forced to apologise to Liverpool after “significant human errors” saw Luis Diaz’s first-half goal incorrectly disallowed for offside.

The refereeing body later released audio of the decision being made which revealed the uncertainty erupting in the VAR room and the panic when it was realised a mistake had been made.

Liverpool ended up losing the game in north London after a last-minute own goal from Joel Matip with Klopp further frustrated by red cards shown to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota which reduced his side to nine men.

(Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)

Alexander-Arnold responds to James Maddison’s post

Alexander-Arnold has continued the banter back in the direction of Maddison when he was asked about the post and could not resist aiming a dig at Leicester City’s relegation from the Premier League of which the midfielder was part of, with the Liverpool player scoring a free-kick against the Foxes a fortnight before their fate was sealed.

“Nah,” Alexander-Arnold told Channel 4 when asked whether Maddison’s caption was accurate. “No, he was asking me to teach him how to put a free-kick in the top corner.

“But, I told him, I’d just shown him the video when I scored at Leicester last year and they got relegated.” 

SpursWeb Opinion

It is great to see the England pair having banter over the incident, however, it is Maddison who has had the last laugh with Tottenham sitting at the top of the Premier League table and are currently three points ahead of the Merseysiders.

Spurs fans will be hoping that their players who are on international duty come through their fixtures unscathed and continue to hit the ground running when they face Fulham.

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There was plenty said and written about VAR’s mistake during Tottenham’s 2-1 win over the Reds, with a miscommunication leading to Luis Diaz’s first-half goal being ruled out for offside.

To many people’s shock, Jurgen Klopp suggested last week that replaying the match would be the fairest solution (Guardian).

This obviously did not sit well with many people in the game, with the Liverpool boss being widely criticised for his statement (Mirror).

Ange Postecoglou said last week that while the specific kind of mistake might have been unique, it was still human error at the end of the day and thus does not meet the threshold for the match to be replayed (Football.London).

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

James Maddison pokes fun at Alexander-Arnold

Maddison has now joked on his Instagram story that his England teammate, Alexander-Arnold, continues to ask for a replay.

Madders pic.twitter.com/Wb9NH8NSNy

— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) October 9, 2023

Spurs Web Opinion

It seems like Madders does not miss any opportunity to banter with his England teammates as he did with Saka both before and after the North London Derby.

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The decision to rule out Luis Diaz’s goal for offside was not overturned as the VAR Darren England thought that the goal had been given on the pitch.

When the officials at Stockley Park realised what had happened, the game had already kicked off, meaning that it was too late for them to intervene.

Unsurprisingly, the incident has made a lot of headlines over the last week, with Jurgen Klopp even suggesting that replaying the game would be the fairest possible solution (Guardian).

Multiple sources have since confirmed that the Premier League will not consider replaying the fixture despite Liverpool’s attempt to escalate the issue (Football Insider).

Postecoglou has now pointed out that even though the type of mistake was unprecedented, it was still human error, which is not sufficient ground for the match to be replayed.

Credit: Michael Bridge

Ange Postecoglou responds to Jurgen Klopp quotes

When asked about Klopp’s statement, the Spurs head coach told Football.London: “I think Jurgen’s said that maybe that was taken a little bit out of context.

“My view is when you’re talking about a replay, there’s got to be some sort of threshold and I don’t think a mistake is a threshold for that, irrespective of the consequences.

“If we stray into integrity or misappropriation of the law, then you maybe have a case to say ‘well, you know what, there’s something there’. But, ultimately, when you strip it all back it was a mistake, that’s what it was.

“It was a unique mistake, people have used ‘an unprecedented mistake’ and I agree with that, but it was still a mistake. So if your threshold for replays is mistakes by individuals, that’s 365 games a year, I reckon.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The VAR system is still relatively new in the game and these types of occasional mistakes (it was the first time that this type of miscommunication has occurred) will help fine-tune the system. The communication protocols will certainly improve on the back of this.

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There has been a lot said and written about the miscommunication between VAR and the on-field referee that led to Luis Diaz’s offside not being overruled but that was not the only contentious decision in Spurs’ win over Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp was also not happy with the two red cards that his side got, even stating that Jota got sent off despite not touching any Spurs player for either yellow card incident (90 min).

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 30: Curtis Jones of Liverpool fouls Yves Bissouma of Tottenham Hotspur before being shown a red card during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 30, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Panel believe the second yellow card was incorrect

ESPN have now obtained the results of the vote from the Independent Key Match Incident Panel, which has five members, made up of three former players and coaches, plus one representative each from the Premier League and PGMOL.

The panel allegedly believed that the tackle by Jota on Udogie in the 69th minute was not worthy of a second yellow card, with the five members voting 3-2 against a booking.

Spurs Web Opinion

The fact that the vote was 3-2 suggests that it was quite a subjective call and clearly not an objective error by referee Simon Hooper. I personally felt that while Jota’s first yellow card was extremely harsh, he clearly deserved a yellow for his second challenge on Udogie.

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Klopp shocked the footballing world by suggesting on Wednesday that replaying the fixture between Spurs and Liverpool would be the fairest outcome after a miscommunication between VAR and the on-field referee leading to Luis Diaz’s goal being ruled out for offside (Guardian).

Klopp has received plenty of criticism for his statement (Mirror) and multiple sources have made it clear that the Premier League will not consider replaying the game despite Liverpool’s attempts to escalate the incident (Football Insider).

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Tottenham vs Liverpool will not be replayed

However, some Spurs fans feared the worst when a notification from the club’s app read on Thursday: ‘Our home league clash with Liverpool has been rescheduled.’

The Daily Mail revealed that this led to some Tottenham supporters thinking that the game was indeed about to be replayed, with one supporter commenting ‘I fell off my chair’, while another tweeted ‘heart was in my mouth’ and another ‘that gave me a mild heart attack.’

However, the alert actually referred to a new date for the Women’s Super League fixture between the same two clubs, with the Spurs vs Liverpool WSL game at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road on November 12 set to kick off at 12.30 pm.

Everyone who just got that notification from the Spurs app about the rescheduling of the Liverpool game. pic.twitter.com/OO4wJsf8VF

— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) October 5, 2023

Spurs Web Opinion

There is no doubt that the Tottenham admins knew exactly what they were doing by putting out that notification. In a way, it is quite a nice way to troll Klopp and Liverpool, although it seems like they nearly gave some Spurs fans a heart attack in the process.

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At the start of the week, it is fair to say that Liverpool had the sympathy of many neutrals, given the unprecedented nature of the miscommunication between the VAR and the on-field referee, which meant that the decision to rule Luis Diaz offside was not corrected.

However, any goodwill that the Reds had has now disappeared after Klopp quite outrageously claimed on Wednesday that replaying the game would be the only fair outcome (Guardian).

Jose Manuel Alvarez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Gary Neville hits out at Jurgen Klopp for replay claim

Multiple reports have since made it clear that despite Liverpool’s attempts to escalate the issue, the Premier League will not consider replaying the game (Football Insider).

Neville has now criticised Klopp’s statement, suggesting that the Merseyside club have grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory.

!! Can’t believe how Liverpool have grabbed defeat from victory in their handling of this ! They were wronged by a shocking mistake.End of! https://t.co/O47oT7gvlw

— Gary Neville (@GNev2) October 4, 2023

The former Manchester United man also labelled Liverpool’s escalating rhetoric about the refereeing mistake as ‘madness’.

Because of Liverpools statement escalating it , mentioning integrity and exploring options. Now we’ve seen they want a replay! Thats madness. https://t.co/AnIzksmKx5

— Gary Neville (@GNev2) October 4, 2023

Spurs Web Opinion

The way everyone associated with Liverpool (particularly their supporters) are burning with righteous indignation has been quite revealing.

Wrong decisions have been part of football for a long time, and teams do not always get what they deserve. Not being able to accept that and take the rough with the smooth suggests something is fundamentally wrong with one’s relationship with the sport itself.

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Earlier this week, the PMGOL released the audio of the incident, which showed that a basic miscommunication between VAR and the on-field referee led to Luis Diaz’s offside not being overturned (Sky Sports).

Just when it seemed like the controversy was set to die down a bit, Klopp poured more fuel into the fire on Wednesday by stating that he believes that replaying the game would be the fair outcome (Guardian).

However, multiple outlets have since explained that the Premier League will not entertain the possibility of replaying the game despite Liverpool’s attempts to escalate the issue (Football Insider).

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – JANUARY 21: The Liverpool FC club badge on a wall outside the Kop stand before the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC at Anfield on January 21, 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Is Jurgen Klopp playing games at Liverpool?

Dorsett has now revealed that he spoke to Klopp after the press conference and that the Liverpool boss insisted that the incident will help motivate his side.

The journalist said on Sky Sports Football Daily: “From Jurgen Klopp’s perspective, he wants to try and move on. Of course, he does. 

“He’s got a match in the Europa League tomorrow to prepare for, against Royale Union San-Gilloise, and he’s trying to prepare his players for that.

“He told me outside of this news conference room that he thinks this could galvanise his squad and bring them together.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Klopp clearly knew that a replay was not on the cards and his statement was aimed at putting pressure on the PMGOL and officials. For someone in his position to mention that in his press conference was extremely poor conduct.

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The PMGOL released the audio from the incident earlier this week, with the tapes clearly demonstrating that the Luis Diaz offside call stood as a result of a miscommunication (Sky Sports).

The VAR Darren England thought that the goal had been given and communicated ‘check complete’ to the on-field referee, who restarted the game assuming that the offside decision had been verified.

Just when it looked like we might have heard last of the incident, Jurgen Klopp poured fuel into the fire on Wednesday by stating that a fair resolution would be to have the game replayed (Guardian).

(Photo by Visionhaus)

Premier League will refuse a Spurs-Liverpool replay 

However, Football Insider have now claimed that there is no chance of the Premier League calling for the match to be replayed.

The outlet explained even though the Reds are looking to escalate the incident, the Premier League have made it clear that there is no prospect of playing the fixture again.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports Football Daily have revealed that they reached out to Tottenham regarding Klopp’s statement but the North London club did not offer any comment. 

Spurs Web Opinion

There is no point in dignifying Klopp’s statement with a response. Liverpool’s conduct has been extremely poor over the last few days.

From their assertion that ‘sporting integrity has been undermined’ to Klopp’s claim yesterday, it is almost as if they are hinting at corruption or foul play when it was evidently just human error. 

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Tottenham secured a big win over Liverpool last weekend, but the result has been called into question due to a massive mistake from the VAR officials which saw a Luis Diaz goal incorrectly ruled out for offside.

(Photo by Visionhaus)

Despite being down to ten men, Liverpool looked to have taken the lead when Mohamed Salah played a ball through for Diaz, who applied a fine finish past Guglielmo Vicario.

The PGMOL has since admitted that a serious factual error was made in disallowing the goal (Sky Sports). Audio footage from the VAR room has also been released, which appears to reveal a miscommunication was not corrected and the game was allowed to go on despite the goal not being given.

Spurs eventually won the game thanks to a first-half goal from Heung-min Son and an injury-time Joel Matip own goal via a Pedro Porro cross.

Both Ange Postecoglou and Jurgen Klopp have said very little on the matter after the game, until now.

Jurgen Klopp wants the Spurs game replayed

Klopp has commented on the situation and revealed what he hopes to happen to resolve the issue, but admitted it is unlikely to happen.

He said (via Fabrizio Romano): “I think the only outcome for the Tottenham-Liverpool game should be a replay. It probably won’t happen. I think it is so unprecedented it didn’t happen before.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I honestly cannot see the game being replayed. The decision and subsequent mistake have already been made, and you can argue that even if Diaz had scored, it wouldn’t have led to a Liverpool win.

Would Liverpool have to play with ten men from 25 minutes onwards to replicate the situation in a replay? There are just too many obstacles to making a replay a viable option.

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After PMGOL admission of getting the Luiz Diaz offside call wrong, Liverpool released a strongly worded statement which suggested that sporting integrity had been undermined.

While the Reds did not officially call for the game to be replayed, they did state that they would ‘explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution’.

On Tuesday, PMGOL released the audio of the exchange in the VAR room prior to the decision being made (Sky Sports), with the conversation backing up what they had said previously.

VAR Darren England had thought that the goal had been given on the pitch and thus mistakenly said ‘check complete’ when Diaz was onside, which led the on-pitch referee Simon Hooper to restart the game.

While England and his assistant Dan Cook realised the mistake they had made just seconds later, they could not intervene since the game had already restarted.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Could Tottenham vs Liverpool be replayed?

Over the past couple of days, there have been discussions by fans and parts of the media regarding whether the game could be replayed (talkSPORT).

Stephen Taylor Heath, co-head of Sports Law at JMW Solicitors, has now explained that Liverpool do have legal means to pursue a potential replay.

He told The Mirror: “Rule L18 outlines that the Premier League board has the power to order a league match to be replayed provided that recommendation to that effect has been made by a commission under rule W51.

“In addition to this, under rule W1, the Premier League’s board has the power to inquire about any suspected breach of rules, including those made by a match official, while rule N4 ensures that each match official agrees to be bound by the laws of the game as well as any protocols and FA rules.

“There is therefore a possibility that Liverpool could lobby the Premier League board to convene a commission which would have the power, among others, to order the match to be replayed.

“To mount a general legal case outside of the Premier League regulations, a starting point would normally have to be to establish a contractual nexus between the club and the officials that has been breached or a duty of care and negligence causing loss.”

Spurs Web Opinion

There is no way that the game will replayed, given that it was just human error.

While the nature of the error was unique as it was down to basic miscommunication, having the game replayed sets an unwanted precedent as all clubs will start demanding the same when they are at the receiving end of an incorrect decision.

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As expected, there has been a lot said and written about the mistake made by VAR on Saturday after PMGOL admitted that they made a significant human error by not overruling the offside call for Diogo Jota’s opener.

They explained that VAR Darren England believed the goal had been awarded on the pitch and thought he was confirming that outcome while referee Simon Hooper stuck with the initial offside decision.

Liverpool announced after PMGOL’s admission of their mistake that they would  ‘explore the range of options available’ and it has subsequently been reported that the Reds had asked for the audio of the VAR conversation (ThisIsAnfield).

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Tottenham vs Liverpool should not be replayed

Lampard admitted that it was difficult to accept the kind of error that was made by VAR but refuted talks of the game potentially being replayed.

When asked about the game potentially being played again, he told Sky Sports’ MNF (02/10/23): “I don’t see it. I don’t know what the repercussions of that would be because this is however many apologies they have made since VAR has been in. 

“This is very factual and the circumstances of the mistake are something you can’t get your head around and understand.”

Carragher responded to the same question: “I don’t think there should be a replay. I don’t believe that.”

Spurs Web Opinion

No one serious is suggesting that a replay is on the cards. While the mistake made by VAR on Saturday is unique due to it being down to basic miscommunication, it is something they should learn from and avoid repeating.

One simple solution would be for VAR to spell out whether it is offside or onside rather than communicating whether the referee should stay with the on-field decision or not.

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PMGOL confirmed following Tottenham’s 2-1 win on Saturday that a significant human error had occurred when Luiz Diaz’s goal was ruled out for offside.

It was explained that the VAR, Darren England, thought that the goal had been awarded on the pitch and thus instructed the referee Simon Hooper to stay with the on-field decision.

Understandably, the unique nature of the error, which was down to a simple miscommunication between the officials, has made a lot of headlines.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

What are Liverpool trying to achieve with statement?

Liverpool released a strongly worded message after the PMGOL’s admission, stating that it is ‘unacceptable’ that the failings have been categorised as ‘significant human error’.

They asserted that the mistake had resulted in ‘sporting integrity being undermined’ and that they would explore their options, given ‘the clear need for escalation and resolution’.

Gallagher says he fails to understand the meaning of the statement, pointing out that it was just a mistake by the VAR.

The former Premier League referee told Sky Sports News (11:33 am, October 2, 2023): “I don’t understand what it means, to be honest, sorry. I seriously don’t.

“It was a mistake. Referees make mistakes all the time. It was a mistake. It’s a very, very bad mistake, no doubt about that, but it’s a mistake. It was not done deliberately.”

Spurs Web Opinion

There is a section of every fan base (probably a significant minority) who actually believes that the FA and the referees are corrupt and that they actively rig results, which is an utterly ridiculous position to hold.

That is quite different from believing that VAR does not work or that the referees are simply not good enough, which are acceptable positions to hold. 

Those conspiracy theorists look at mistakes like the one on Saturday as evidence of officials being compromised. Liverpool’s ridiculous assertion that sporting integrity has been undermined is basically throwing red meat to that idiotic fringe.

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Luis Diaz’s goal in the first half, which would have been the game’s opener, was flagged offside and the PMGOL admitted after the game that a ‘significant human error’ had occurred, leading to the on-pitch decision standing.

It was explained that VAR Darren England believed the goal had been awarded on the pitch and thought he was confirming that outcome while referee Simon Hooper consequently stuck with the initial offside decision.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Liverpool want to hear VAR audio from Spurs match

Liverpool had already announced after the game that they would ‘explore the range of options available’ after PMGOL’s admission of their mistake.

According to the latest update by ThisIsAnfield, the Reds have asked to listen to the conversation that took place at Stockley Park and their communication with Hooper that led to the offside decision being upheld against Spurs.

Spurs Web Opinion

The incident on Saturday was quite unique and cannot be compared to some other VAR mistakes since it was primarily down to a basic breakdown in communication.

I am personally in support of having a system similar to rugby and cricket, whereby the fans can listen to the conversations between the referee and VAR. However, that change would have to come from the top and be the same for everyone.

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Liverpool’s clash at Tottenham saw VAR be called in for judgement three times. The first occasion was the dismissal of midfielder, Curtis Jones, whose challenge on Bissouma was deemed dangerous.

VAR instructed referee Simon Hooper to consult with the video replay of the challenge; to which the English referee decided to upgrade Jones’ punishment from yellow to red, much to the dismay of Liverpool fans and pundits.

The visitors then took the lead eight minutes after losing Jones as Diaz fired a shot into the bottom left corner. VAR yet again was called upon to check the call for offside, the goal was deemed illegal and Tottenham went on to go 1-0 up.

Despite little awareness amongst the fans inside the stadium, VAR had made a glaring error which prompted a later apology from the PGMOL (Sky News). Inevitably, this led to more media onslaught for inconsistent officiating which has been a theme throughout the start of this season.

The controversy seemed to absorb so much attention that little has been said about Tottenham finally defeating one of their toughest opponents, only beating The Reds once across the past six years.

So, exactly how good was Tottenham’s victory despite the officiating mishaps which continue to dominate the headlines?

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 30: Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates the win with Pedro Porro and Alejo Veliz at full time during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 30, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Richarlison’s successful re-introduction?

Despite Richarlison’s heroic cameo against Sheffield United two weeks ago, Ange Postecoglou opted for the pace of Brennan Johnson against North London rivals, Arsenal, but an injury to the Welsh winger paved the way for the Brazilians’ reintegration into the starting line-up against Liverpool.

For many Spurs fans, it may have been perceived that Son would be pushed back out onto the left for the game, allowing Richarlison to operate through the middle, but those perceptions were quickly dispelled pre-game as Postecoglou confirmed to Sky Sports ‘He [Richarlison] will start on the left’.

Richarlison offered a different type of threat from the left-hand side than Tottenham had experienced so far this season. Richarlison despite creating 2 chances, one being an unselfish cutback for Son’s opener, the winger also had five shots of his own, two of which were on target and perhaps were unlucky to have not hit the back of the net (FotMob).

Postecoglou had deployed Solomon, Son and briefly Johnson on the left so far this season; Richarlison had the most xG out of them all. The Brazilian experienced 0.78 xG (FotMob), Tottenham’s highest xG from their left-sided attacker all season, by some way too with Johnson’s 0.59xG last weekend being the only performance that came close (FotMob).

It can be frustrating that Richarlison therefore didn’t end up putting himself on the scoresheet, but his quality of chances display that his runs and movement offer something Tottenham haven’t experienced all season, and with Tottenham’s number 9 now grabbing 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 111 minutes of football, it could allow him to lock down a spot in Postecoglou’s team.

Pedro Porro’s outstanding display

A common preconception before the start of the season amongst fans was that you could not start Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie together, but in true Postecoglou fashion; Ange ripped up the rulebook. Porro has found a new level at Tottenham since the Australian came in and Saturday’s performance was an embodiment of his hard work, especially on his defensive game.

Porro’s Spurs career certainly took off turbulently as former Tottenham boss judged him as being ‘so bad it’s unbelievable’ whilst also claiming his ‘positioning was absolutely disgusting’ (Sky Sports) as Tottenham fell to a 4-1 defeat away at Leicester, Porro failed to make a single tackle that game and was substituted after 75 minutes.

Porro when asked about those Sherwood comments at the time stated, ‘Let me loose in a prison and I’ll end up owning the place’, his flash of arrogance was balanced with a sense of understanding that he’d need to adjust as Pedro also stated ‘it’s hard: it was only a week, I’d never played a minute at City, never played in England in my life’ (The Guardian). It’s now seeming not so hard for the Spaniard.

His display against Liverpool was nearly immaculate, he often dampened the Liverpool attack and utilised his pace to stop any counter-attacking threats, especially when the visitors often used it as their only attacking outlet as they dropped to nine men.

Porro made the most tackles out of anyone in the game (6) (SofaScore) and made the all-important fizzing cross across the Liverpool box which forced Matip to deflect the cross into his own net, sending the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into raptures.

Porro’s performance was arguably man-of-the-match worthy and won Tottenham the tie; now that the Spanish international has improved his defensive ability, it’s hard to see a true weakness in the full-backs game.

The un-Spursy result

When Tottenham came from behind twice away to Arsenal last weekend to clinch a rare point at the Emirates, James Maddison stated that ‘Neutrals talk about Tottenham, they often say; soft, weak, bottle it, Spursy, all that rubbish.

I think the last couple of weeks shows we might be going in a slightly different direction’ (Mirror), and Saturday’s result suggests that perhaps the tide is certainly turning at Tottenham.

Obviously, the expectation would have been to get a winning goal in those final 20 minutes against a nine-man Liverpool, however, the Reds effectively had all nine of those men behind the ball at times.

Other than the odd outlier Tottenham have notoriously struggled to finish the job off against sides with a low block, but Postecoglou’s side have now defeated two teams back-to-back at home that end the game with an extremely low block with the intention of nullifying Spurs’ threat.

Spurs patiently plugged away, with little sign of players becoming frustrated, shown by the fact that Tottenham only had eight shots from the moment that Jota was sent off.

The patient passing around the Liverpool box is shown by the fact that Spurs had 42 more passes in the final 20 minutes of the second half than they did in the first 25 minutes of the second half (Opta).

Spurs’ winner was the clearest display of the confidence that Postecoglou has breathed into the side and the lack of ‘bottling it’ which Maddison alluded to.

Kulusevski doesn’t panic at the start of the move which caused the winner and even passes it back to the wide-open Romero; a decision which was met with audible groans around the ground.

Romero continues the calmness and confidence in playing Postecoglou’s way as the Argentine holds the ball for six seconds, a time which seems like an eternity when it’s the final minute of the game, but it was a much-needed wait as allowed Porro to drift out wide and ultimately fire in his cross which ensured Tottenham would get three points against Liverpool since October of 2017.

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A huge win for Spurs at the weekend against one of their main rivals for a top-four finish has been tarnished by a number of controversial refereeing decisions.

Liverpool were reduced to ten men midway through the first half when Curtis Jones was adjudged to have committed a dangerous foul on Yves Bissouma.

Jurgen Klopp’s men almost took the lead soon after, however, but Luis Diaz’s goal was chalked off for offside. It has since been admitted that a serious error was made in ruling out this goal (Sky Sports).

Spurs got off the mark in the game thanks to a fine goal from Heung-min Son. The Lilywhites skipper was played in by Richarlison after a precise through ball from James Maddison.

With the scores level going into the final 20 minutes, Liverpool lost another player, with Diogo Jota picking up two fairly contentious yellow cards in quick succession. Tottenham eventually won the game in the closing moments through a Joel Matip own goal.

HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – JUNE 13: The official English FA badge during the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier between England MU21 and Slovenia U21 at John Smith’s Stadium on June 13, 2022 in Huddersfield, United Kingdom. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)

Mac Allister could be in trouble with the FA

Naturally, Liverpool players and fans are aggrieved by the circumstances surrounding the defeat. Alexis Mac Allister vented those frustrations on Instagram, by commenting on a celebratory post by Cristian Romero that Spurs had ’12 players’.

According to the latest from Sky Sports‘ Paper Talk, that comment could land Mac Allister in hot water.

Picking up on a report from The Sun, Sky Sports suggest Mac Allister could be punished by the FA “for suggesting referee Simon Hooper was against Liverpool in their defeat to Tottenham.”

Spurs Web Opinion

People make mistakes, and referees are only human, as are the folks in VAR. Some of the errors on Saturday were pretty egregious, and there is likely to be action taken to try and prevent this from happening again. But the fact of the matter is, professionals simply cannot criticise officials in the way Mac Allister has.

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The Lilywhites had failed to beat the Reds at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium every time since its opening, but finally put that run of poor form to bed this weekend.

Destiny Udogie was at the heart of Tottenham’s performance, but also found himself involved in one of the many controversies in the game.

Diogo Jota was shown a yellow card when he appeared to trip the Spurs left-back, but replays showed the contact was extremely minimal, and was certainly not done on purpose.

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 16: Destiny Udogie of Tottenham Hotspur passes the ball during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 16, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Destiny Udogie subjected to racist abuse online

A few minutes later, now on a yellow, Jota decided to dive in and attempt to win the ball back from Udogie after the Liverpool star had his pocket picked. The result was a second yellow and a red.

Tottenham went on to win the game thanks to a horrible VAR offside call and a late own goal from Joel Matip, and Udogie posted on Instagram to celebrate the victory.

Unfortunately, the Italian was subjected to numerous cases of racist abuse in the comment, with screenshots of racist slurs going around social media. To make matters worse, the media coverage of this has been woefully poor.

We at The Spurs Web condemn any kind of abuse on social media, and urge true football fans to report any racist comments they may come across. The footballing world is more important than petty rivalries.

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Spurs beat Liverpool for the first time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what was another game full of high-octane drama, with the home side once again producing a late winner to send the fans into rapture.

Given that Jurgen Klopp’s men picked up two red cards and had a goal mistakenly ruled out for offside, a lot of the discussion after the match has been about the referring decisions.

However, Tottenham certainly gave as good as they got when it was eleven vs eleven in the first 25 minutes of the game, with Postecoglou admitting that he was pleased with the character and the patience that his side showed, particularly in the second half (Football.London).

Van de Ven has insisted that the two sides were evenly matched until Curtis Jones received his marching orders.

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – AUGUST 26: Tottenham Hotspur’s Micky van de Ven during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur at Vitality Stadium on August 26, 2023 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by David Horton – CameraSport via Getty Images)

Confident words from Tottenham’s Micky Van de Ven

The centre-back told FourFourTwo: “Liverpool has a really good team. think we were strong on the ball; our positional play was certainly good. We both had some chances, I think we were evenly matched.

“But I think Liverpool thought we were another kind of Spurs team than they were used to come up against.

“Liverpool also won at Newcastle with 10 men, so then you know it’s a good team. You just have to be on your guard. And they did score the 1-1 with 10 men. Luckily we scored the 2-1 at the very end.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The first 25 minutes of the game was extremely absorbing and the quality on show from both sides was quite brilliant. While I am pleased that we got the three points, a small part of me would have liked to see how it would have played out if it had been 11 vs 11.

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Tottenham scored another late match-winner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday to send the home fans into pandemonium.

The 2-1 win over Liverpool means that Spurs remain unbeaten in the Premier League and now sit just a point behind league leaders, Manchester City.

Understandably, there has been a lot said and written about some of the controversial refereeing decisions that were made in the game.

PMGOL themselves acknowledged that Luis Diaz’s first-half goal should not have stood and was incorrectly adjudged to be offside due to ‘a significant human error’.

Some pundits, such as Gary Neville, have argued that Jones did not deserve a sending-off as his foot slipped on top of the ball before he connected with Yves Bissouma (Sky Sports via Mirror).

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 30: Curtis Jones of Liverpool fouls Yves Bissouma of Tottenham Hotspur before being shown a red card during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 30, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Did Liverpool deserve two reds against Tottenham?

However, Maddison said that having seen both red card incidents on the big screen, both Jones and Joto were rightfully given their marching orders.

The Tottenham midfielder told Sky Sports (broadcast on 30/9 from 17:00): “Jota’s definitely was. The Curtis Jones one early on got shown on the big screen I think was a red card as well. I’m not sure Jurgen will complain too much about those too.”

As it happened, Klopp did complain about both red cards, insisting that Jones did not intend to hurt Bissouma and that Jota hardly touched Udogie for his first yellow card (ESPN).

Spurs Web Opinion

I can understand why Liverpool fans are upset as Jota’s first yellow card did seem soft. However, it is worth pointing out that the winger got away with a potential yellow card offence just minutes earlier and the referee was always going to hand him a booking the next time he fouled a player to stop a Spurs attack.

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