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Liverpool player ratings: Summer signings finally shine in hard-fought win vs Tottenham

Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening to continue their recent improved form with a third win in a row.

The Reds admittedly had a bit of a gift from Spurs, however, who were reduced to ten men in the first half after a stupid and reckless challenge by Xavi Simons on Virgil van Dijk.

Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike then scored for Liverpool to give them what should’ve been a comfortable lead, only for Richarlison to pull one back and make things nervy late on.

Overall, though, Liverpool players can be happy with how they performed in what is always a tricky away game.

Liverpool player ratings in 2-1 win vs Tottenham

Alisson Becker – 7.5 – This wasn’t exactly the best Spurs side Alisson will have come up against, but he did well to make four saves in total, even if there wasn’t much he could do for Richarlison’s late strike, which was more down to poor defending.

Conor Bradley – 6 – Some decent moments going forward, but Conor Bradley still looks a little inconsistent at this level, while an injury problem meant he was replaced at half time anyway.

Ibrahima Konate – 7 – A strong showing for the most part, and better than some of the games he’s had this season, though let down slightly for picking up an unnecessary yellow card.

Virgil van Dijk – 7 – Mostly pretty commanding at the back and a threat in the air from set pieces for Liverpool, though mis-kicked a clearance late on that allowed Richarlison to score.

Milos Kerkez – 6 – A solid if unspectacular display from the Liverpool left-back, who is slowly and steadily becoming more reliable after a difficult start to life at Anfield.

Ryan Gravenberch – 8 – Mr Reliable in midfield for Liverpool, it was once again a fine all-round display from Ryan Gravenberch as he fought for every ball and kept play ticking.

Ryan Gravenberch reacts during Liverpool vs Tottenham
Ryan Gravenberch reacts during Liverpool vs Tottenham (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Curtis Jones – 6 – A solid performer since coming into the team, but perhaps a bit too cautious with his passing, often choosing the safe option when he could do more to help drive the team forward.

Dominik Szoboszlai – 7 – Once again a key man for Liverpool as he continues to be one of their best performers of the season, though understandably contributed slightly less when asked to fill in at right-back again.

Alexis Mac Allister – 6 – Not bad, but not at his best either, with a lack of the kind of spark and quality he’s usually more than capable of showing with his passing and shooting.

Florian Wirtz – 8.5 – Probably his best performance in a Liverpool shirt, with a neat assist for the Isak goal. Wirtz finally looked like a major threat throughout this game as he was statistically the player of the match, as per WhoScored.

Huge Ekitike – 8 – A man in great form in front of goal, Hugo Ekitike did his job once again with a well-taken header to make it 2-0 not long after Isak’s opener. A real threat up front, on a run now of five goals in his last three Premier League games.

Subs: Alexander Isak – 7, Jeremie Frimpong – 7, Federico Chiesa – 7, Trey Nyoni – N/A, Andy Robertson – N/A

The post Liverpool player ratings: Summer signings finally shine in hard-fought win vs Tottenham appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Richarlison scores after Van Dijk error, immediately tries to pick fight with Liverpool star

Richarlison pulled a goal back late on for Tottenham against Liverpool this evening, as we saw a crazy end to the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Xavi Simons was sent off in the first half, giving Spurs a mountain to climb as they took on the Reds with only ten men.

Alexander Isak scored early in the second period to give Liverpool the lead, and then immediately went off with what looked potentially like quite a bad injury.

Hugo Ekitike added a second goal for the visitors not long afterwards, but Richarlison’s late strike threatened to make things interesting again in the closing stages.

Richarlison scores for Tottenham against Liverpool
Richarlison scores for Tottenham against Liverpool (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Richarlison’s goal and clash with Dominik Szoboszlai

Watch below as Richarlison punishes some sloppy defending by Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk to fire it low into the back of the net from close range.

For some reason, he then squares up to LFC midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai before being wisely dragged away by his teammates…

Richarlison pulls one back for Spurs and there's now a glimmer of hope for the hosts! ? pic.twitter.com/oWBNaVMRVn

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 20, 2025

Shortly after this, Tottenham were reduced to nine men as Cristian Romero was also given his marching orders for a nasty challenge on Ibrahima Konate.

Spurs really haven’t made live easy for themselves, but this still proved to be a pretty intriguing contest between two teams who so often tend to put on a show when they play each other.

The post Richarlison scores after Van Dijk error, immediately tries to pick fight with Liverpool star appeared first on CaughtOffside.

“Really poor” – Gary Neville slams Tottenham star’s “stupidity” after nightmare against Liverpool

Tottenham attacking midfielder Xavi Simons was singled out for criticism after a poor performance and a reckless challenge that led to his red card.

The Netherlands international was sent off for a strong and late tackle on Reds defender Virgil van Dijk, for which he could surely have no complaints.

Simons had also been pretty poor prior to that, with Neville not holding back with his comments in the video clip below.

Xavi Simons shown red card against Liverpool as Gary Neville slams his “stupidity”

Take a look for yourself as replays showed how bad Simons’ challenge was as Neville tore into him for the incident and for his lack of quality prior to that…

"He's absolutely nowhere near that football!"

Xavi Simons is sent off for a reckless challenge on Virgil van Dijk ? pic.twitter.com/mt3B6SJR6z

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 20, 2025

“He’s absolutely nowhere near that football,” Neville said on commentary for Sky Sports.

“It’s just, I don’t know, malicious, nasty, reckless, whatever you want to call it, and he’s going to get a red card.

“Stupidity. And he’s been really poor on the ball, that’s been the worst thing.”

Xavi Simons is shown a red card for Tottenham against Liverpool
Xavi Simons is shown a red card for Tottenham against Liverpool (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Tottenham suffering with only ten men as they trail Liverpool

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Tottenham have really suffered as they’ve had to take on Liverpool for so much of this game with only ten men.

Alexander Isak scored to give LFC the lead early in the second half, and at the time of writing, Hugo Ekitike has just headed in a second.

Arne Slot’s side have the clear advantage now and will surely be confident of taking all three points from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Had Simons played a bit better and kept his head then this game surely could have been a lot more of a close contest than it has proven to be.

Liverpool also haven’t been that solid defensively in recent times, having also lost a 2-0 lead to end up drawing away to Leeds United recently, though it looks like it would take something really special for Spurs to come back now.

The post “Really poor” – Gary Neville slams Tottenham star’s “stupidity” after nightmare against Liverpool appeared first on CaughtOffside.

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