Premier League: Tottenham - Liverpool

Recap. Tottenham start the season in style by beating Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool 2-1! Great start for Spurs, Liverpool open their 2009-10 Premier League account with a defeat!

Spurs now have more points now after one game than they did after eight games last season! Harry Redknapp has created an exciting Tottenham side for this season.

Assou-Ekotto and Bassong scored the goals for Tottenham. While Assou-Ekotto’s 30 yard strike was the better goal, Bassong’s goal was the crucial game winner. Gerrard scored a penalty, but it didn’t prove enough to get anything away at White Hart Lane.

Full Time.

93’ - Torres gets in a scuffle with Huddlestone.

92’ - Gerrard’s shot is blocked. Defoe comes off, Pavlyuchenko is on.

90’ - Liverpool assistant manager Sammy Lee has been sent to the stands by Phil Dowd. Three minutes of added time.

87’ - Tottenham get lucky again. Torres’ cross hits Assou-Ekotto’s arm. No call. Tottenham fans are laughing at Liverpool supporters.

86’ - Surely a penalty! Assou-Ekotto shoves Voronin off the ball, he had only one thing on his mind. Phil Dowd says no as Rafa goes insane.

84’ - Jamie O’Hara comes on for Luka Modric. Modric has been Tottenham’s Man of the Match today.

82’ - Liverpool are pushing for the equalizer, and Tottenham look to be more defensive minded as hope to close out the final ten minutes on top.

81’ - Lennon still full of energy, running viciously at the Liverpool defence.

78’ - Voronin comes on for Dirk Kuyt. Benayoun finds himself in a bit of space and hits a shot that deflects off Ledley King out for a corner. Open play results.

77’ - Torres once again looks slow as he cannot reach yet another through pass. Voronin looks set to come on.

75’ - Daniel Ayala comes on Skrtel. Skrtel looks in agony as he holds his jaw.

73’ - Gerrard plays a nice one two with Benayoun and gets into the area but his left footed shot weakly falls to Gomes.

70’ - Torres is not on his game today. King does well to tackle Torres and win the ball.

67’ - Assou-Ekotto gets a yellow card for tackling Johnson late. Babel makes way for Benayoun, and Keane makes way for Peter Crouch. If Tottenham don’t win this game the blame should fall on Robbie Keane.

66’ - Robbie Keane finally with a good strike! He hits from 30 yards with power, but Reina does well to beat it down and collect.

63’ - Gomes takes Johnson’s cross well. Flowing passing from Tottenham.

61’ - Gomes palms Gerrard’s effort over the bar even though it was right at him, poor goalkeeping by the Brazilian.

60’ - GOAL!!! Tottenham 2 - 1 Liverpool!!! Modric swings in a wonderful free kick, and Bassong brilliantly heads it towards goal to give Tottenham the lead once again. Bassong drove his header into the upper-left hand corner of Reina’s net. Not bad for his Tottenham debut!

59’ - Jamie Carragher is shown the yellow card for taking down Defoe. Tottenham free kick.

58’ - Defoe with a nice turn at the edge of the box, but Carragher does well to block his shot. Liverpool clear the subsequent corner.

55’ - GOAL!!! Liverpool 1 - 1 Tottenham!!! Gerrard slams the penalty right down the middle with pace, blowing it past a diving Gomes.

54’ - Glen Johnson goes on a stellar 20 yard run, beating Huddlestone and Assou-Ekotto. Then he draws the foul from Gomes and wins a penalty! Gomes is shown a yellow taking down Johnson.

53’ - Mascherano goes down theatrically trying to get Huddlestone a yellow card, which the ref rightfully doesn’t do. Palacios with the brilliant strike from 25 yards destined to the top-right corner of the net, but Reina does well and gets a fingertip at full extension to give Tottenham a corner.

51’ - Martin Skrtel with a frustrated challenge on Robbie Keane that earns Skrtel a yellow card. A poor challenge.

49’ - Kuyt drives a pass to Torres, who lays it back for Gerrard. Gerrard’s first time 30 yard strike just goes past the post. Replay shows it should be a Liverpool corner, but Phil Dowd doesn’t see Gomes’ fingertips touch the ball. Best opportunity for Liverpool so far, but they still don’t have a shot on goal.

47’ - Lennon takes on four Liverpool defenders, but can only beat three. A truly captivating run down the right flank.

46’ - Liverpool win an early corner, they need a positive start of this half. Gerrard takes the corner, but open plays results.

And We’re Off Again! Second Half Kickoff.

Halftime. What a goal to separate the teams at the break! It was truly the half of half-chances, but Robbie Keane should also have gotten himself on the scoresheet. Torres looks isolated up top, Gerrard just is not doing as much as he usually does for his Liverpool side. The game has finally shown promise after the goal. Expect a lively second half, this will not end 1-0. Tough weekend so far for the two sides from Merseyside.

45’ - Four Minutes of added time for the string of injuries. Kuyt gets in with a ball over the top, but his control is poor enough to allow Gomes to claim it. Liverpool look to be finally waking up.

44’ - GOAL!!! ASSOU-EKOTTO WITH A WORLD-CLASS STRIKE! Tottenham 1 - 0 Liverpool! Huddlestone strikes the free kick into the Liverpool wall, but Assou-Ekotto takes the rebound from 30 yards out, and drives it into the top-left corner of Reina’s net. No chance for Reina, a wonderful hit. Now questions are to be asked of Liverpool

43’ - Palacios takes on the heart of the Liverpool defence and wins a free kick for Spurs from 25 yards out. Spurs deserve a goal.

42’ - Robbie Keane looks in preseason form today, he has a clear opportunity at the top of the 18, but blasts it skyward. Modric is by far Tottenham’s best player at the moment.

40’ - It seems like every player is just a little slow today. An excellent defensive header from Glen Johnson after Lennon and Palacios combined well down the right flank.

39’ - Spurs looking by far the better side at the moment. Liverpool have not had a true scoring opportunity and we’re 40 minutes in.

38’ - Gerrard’s cross is deflected by Assou-Ekotto out for a Liverpool corner. Gerrard gets the ball again from the corner, and his cross is deflected once again.

35’ - Again Reina to the rescue. Modric again plays in Robbie Keane, who tries to chip Reina. But the Spaniard is far too quick and gets a hand to palm it out for a corner. Defoe heads the corner just wide.

34’ - Tottenham earn a corner from the subsequent free kick. Open play results.

32’ - Lennon and Mascherano collide at full speed, Masch is booked. Not a dirty game so far but plenty of injuries.

29’ - First real chance of the game. Reina with a spectacular save from Keane’s diving header. Good movement from Tottenham, Palacios gave it to Modric who crossed it to Keane. Should be 1-0 Tottenham at the moment. What a save though by Reina!

28’ - Gerrard gets a yard of space, but scuffs his shot from 30 yards wide. He’s been quiet today, his first effort on goal just now.

27’ - Skrtel is on the pitch again with a new kit this time. His old one had too much blood on it. Lovely.

25’ - Lennon shown a yellow for a late challenge on Skrtel. Skrtel is on the sideline again, looks like his day will soon be over.

24’ - Skrtel is still wincing from the Carra challenge. Carragher looks to be fine, relatively. He launches a ball towards Torres who cannot latch on. Liverpool struggling at the moment.

21’ - Modric’s free kick is deflected out for a Tottenham throw. Lennon then has a half chance that scrapes wide of Reina’s goal.

19’ - Carragher and Skrtel are both back on the field, but they both look out of it. Carragher is still bleeding.

16’ - Jamie Carragher has a daft tackle on Martin Skrtel. And yes, they are on the same team. Clearly the ball was Skrtel’s, but Carragher clashed with in anyway. Nasty cuts for both of them, Carragher is going off for stitches by the looks of it. Skrtel’s jaw seems to be hurt. Both players on the sideline, Liverpool with nine players on the pitch.

14’ - The game has really yet to find a rhythm, but there is no shortage of strong challenges so far. Both teams look up for winning three points today, but it looks dead even at the moment.

11’ - Huddlestone is penalised for a ball-winning tackle. Ref Phil Dowd didn’t like the way he went into it. I suppose because it was studs up.

10’ - Palacios has a ugly strike from 40 yards, but it deflects for a Tottenham corner.

7’ - Skrtel dispossesses Defoe, and Liverpool counter down the wing. Kuyt wins a corner for Liverpool. Gerrard’s corner results in open play.

5’ - Torres with some nice footskills, but he proves to be to tricky for himself as he puts the ball out for a goal kick.

4’ - Assou-Ekotto blasts a shot goalwards from the subsequent corner fell to him just outside of the box. Struck with pace, but well over.

2’ - Keane to Lennon to Corluka, but Skrtel incepts. Robbie Keane then wins a corner kick for the Reds. Keane will have something to prove against Liverpool after his short unsuccessful stint at Anfield.

Kickoff!

Minute in memory of Sir Bobby Robson.

Both teams are now entering from the tunnel.

Lineups- Tottenham Starting XI (4-4-2): Gomes, Corluka, King, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Palacios, Huddlestone, Modric, Keane (captain) and Defoe. Subs from: Cudicini, Hutton, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Naughton and O'Hara.

Liverpool Starting XI (4-5-1): Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Kuyt, Mascherano, Lucas, Babel, Gerrard (captain) and Torres.

Subs from: Cavalieri, Voronin, Benayoun, Spearing, Kelly, Dossena and Ayala.

Pregame - Liverpool travel to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham Hotspur in both clubs’ first Premier League match of the 2009-10 campaign.

Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool is now without his £30m midfielder, Xabi Alonso, who moved to Real Madrid only just over a week ago. Benitez’s £20m replacement for Alonso, the Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani almost immediately suffered an injury after he signed for the Reds from AS Roma. Benitez has also added England international Glen Johnson to bolster his defence, although the fee of £18m that Rafa bought him for seemed a bit exorbitant to many.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has sold Darren Bent to Sunderland, but has brought in former Liverpool man Peter Crouch. Tottenham are finding themselves in some defensive issues as the season starts, with numerous injuries. Tottenham just missed out of a Europa League spot last season to Fulham because they could not get a point away to Liverpool at Anfield, so Spurs fans must be seeking a bit of vengeance this afternoon.