Definitive Days No. 4

Liverpool 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
15 March 2026

Thanks to Eugene Gasper for this picture

Tudor's first four matches had been an unmitigated disaster. Four games played, four matches lost. Four goals scored, fourteen conceded. Not the slightest new-manager bounce.

Today's opponents Liverpool were the second strongest team Tudor had faced after Arsenal. The venue was Anfield where results have been very hard to come by.

The number absentees had increased to thirteen. The new ones since the Atletico game were van de Ven suspended; Romero and Palhinha who had concussed each other in an unfortunate collision at the end of the Atletico game; Gallagher had a fever, apparently the first time he has missed a game in his top-level career through sickness or injury.

There were only seven substitutes instead of nine. These included two goalkeepers and three youngsters. The only experienced outfielders were Simons and Kolo Muani.

So the signs were not propitious.

Tudor set the team up with four at the back and employed a low block.

Liverpool had more possession initially and threatened more. However Spurs looked more solid at the back than in any of the previous games under Tudor.

Liverpool did take the lead after eighteen minutes from a Szoboszlai free kick. The free kick was a little soft and Vicario could perhaps have done better.

Importantly Spurs didn't wilt and Richarlison came close to scoring on two occasions at the end of the first half.

Spurs showed attacking intent during a fairly even second half. Liverpool had conceded seven goals this season in matches in the 90th minute or later. Spurs made it eight and gained a point from the game, the first under Tudor.

The goal was scored by Richarlison, the former Everton man who was booed throughout the game by the Liverpool supporters. It was his fifth Premier League goal at Anfield - an away total bettered only Andrew Cole who scored eight.

Romero, van de Ven, Palhinha and Gallagher will all hopefully be back for the Nottingham Forest game next Sunday. If the team can show the sort of character it did today and move forward from here the season can be turned around.

Here's hoping it will start next Sunday at home to Nottingham Forest. (A good performance in the second leg against Atletico Madrid would be a bonus, provided that there are no more injuries in that match.)

. Spurs Odyssey match report
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part One
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Two
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Three

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