Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur warmed up for their Gameweek 30 meeting at Anfield with UEFA Champions League ties on Tuesday.
It could have gone better: the Reds slumped to a 1-0 loss in Turkey, while Spurs plumbed new depths with a 5-2 reverse in Madrid.
Here are our Scout Notes from both matches.
RESULT
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | Galatasaray (a) | 1-0 loss | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | Atletico Madrid (a) | 5-2 loss | Porro, Solanke | Richarlison, Porro |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| TEAM | CHANGES FROM GW29 | PLAYERS WHO KEPT THEIR PLACES (+ MINS) | OTHER PLAYERS (+ MINS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 3 | Konate (90), van Dijk (90), Gravenberch (90), Mac Allister (90), Szoboszlai (90), Ekitike (90), Kerkez (60), Salah (60) | Mamardashvili (90), Gomez (90), Wirtz (73), Frimpong (30), Robertson (30), Gakpo (17) |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | Van de Ven (90), Danso (90), Gray (90), Sarr (90), Porro (90), Tel (45), Kolo Muani (45) | Romero (90), Spence (83), Vicario (73), Richarlison (68), Solanke (45), Gallagher (45), Palhinha (22), Kinsky (17), Simons (7) |
TWO MORE INJURIES FOR SPURS?
Spurs will already be without Micky van de Ven (£4.4m) through suspension on Sunday but will they be even shorter of bodies at the back?
Cristian Romero (£5.0m), who has only just returned from a four-match ban of his own, collided with Joao Palhinha (£5.5m) in stoppage time on Tuesday, with both players having to come off.
The Spurs duo looked in a bad way afterwards, although it’s not yet known whether they were truly concussed and consequently ruled out of Gameweek 30.
“An example of the moment. It is incredible. It is incredible. We finished the game and we see the two players and there is Micky, who is out with a red card. Sometimes it is difficult to explain. It looks like everything is against us. Incredible things.
“I don’t know [if both players will be ruled out of Gameweek 30]. We will see. I don’t know.” – Igor Tudor on the collision between Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha
TUDOR ON THE EARLY KINSKY SUB
The possibility of another £3.9m playing goalkeeper emerging from the pack briefly reared its head on Tuesday.
Igor Tudor ditched Guglielmo Vicario (£4.7m), who had himself not been convincing of late, and went with Antonin Kinsky (£3.9m) between the posts.
It was a switch that lasted all of 17 minutes.
Kinsky had shipped three goals in that time, two of which were due to his errors. Tudor had seen enough after the second mistake, sending on Vicario.
“It happened very rare things in my coaching 15 years, I never do that. It was necessary to preserve the guy, to preserve the team. Incredible situation, nothing to comment, you will see. It was, before the game, the right choice to do in the moment like we are. Pressure on Vicario, another competition, Toni is a very good goalkeeper. So it was, for me, the right decision. After this, of course, it is easy to say that it was not the right decision.” – Igor Tudor on the early goalkeeper switch
It’d be wrong to just focus on the goalkeeper, though. Another slip, this time by van de Ven, set up goal number two for Atletico, who later added further strikes from a set piece and a counter-attack. The Spanish side didn’t even have a shot after the 55th minute, yet still racked up 2.65 xG:
No matter the situation, no matter the game state, Spurs look like conceding. In fact, they’ve shipped 2+ goals in each of their last nine Premier League fixtures.
It all bodes well for Liverpool this weekend, at least from an attacking perspective.
Spurs are, at least, scoring. Indeed, they’ve found the net in 13 of their last 14 matches in all competitions.
Pedro Porro (£5.1m), who could well be at centre-half on Sunday but who was operating at wing-back here, got forward to first score and then tee up substitute Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) for a second consolation. That’s six goals in six competitive starts and three sub appearances for Solanke now.
LIVERPOOL FAIL TO CONVINCE AGAIN
The dire state of the Gameweek 30 opposition is more of a draw than Liverpool themselves right now.
The last three weeks have seen an unconvincing win over Nottingham Forest, a defeat to 20th-place Wolverhampton Wanderers and now this loss to nil in Turkey. Even the 5-2 win over West Ham United wasn’t as routine as the scoreline made out.
“Liverpool play with the same energy that I have making a sandwich”, was one review of the Reds’ performance last night. ‘Malaise’ probably sums up the Reds at present.
Still, they did have several chances to score in Istanbul.
The returning Florian Wirtz (£8.3m), making his first start after injury, should have scored twice. First missing the target when gifted the ball by the hosts, he then fired straight at the ‘keeper after an excellent team move. Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m) also wasted a glorious one-on-one chance in the second half, while Ibrahima Konate (£5.5m), Alexis Mac Allister (£6.3m) and substitute Cody Gakpo (£7.3m) were all narrowly off target.
Galatasaray could have scored more at the other end, mind. Crosses and set plays were a problem, with Mario Lemina netting the only goal of the game from a corner. Lemina, Davinson Sanchez and Victor Osimhen all had good headed chances, with the latter having seven shots in all. Osimhen was very unlucky to have a goal chalked off by the VAR, too, for a contentious offside.
Konate had a bit of a shocker in the midst of it all.
SALAH HOOKED ON THE HOUR
Alisson (£5.4m) missed out on Tuesday, as previously advertised.
Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m), being eased back in after injury, meanwhile began the game on the bench. He actually came on for Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) in this match, not right-back Joe Gomez (£4.9m), taking Salah’s place further up the flank.
The Egyptian was making his 12th successive start for Liverpool in all competitions, so perhaps this was minute management, rather than the start of more drama between him and Slot. Salah was poor, no question, but then most of his teammates were, too.
Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.9m), for the umpteenth time this season, was the one Red who looked capable of grabbing the game by the lapels. He had three shots, a joint-Liverpool-best with Wirtz, but typically all were low-xG efforts.
