Opinion: Player ratings from Tottenham’s frustrating 2-1 defeat to Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur fell to yet another defeat against big six opposition this evening, with Liverpool winning 2-1 in north London.

Let’s take a look at how the individual players got on:

Hugo Lloris – 6 – Didn’t really have a chance with the goals and made some routine saves. Looked a little panicked coming off his line once or twice.

Ryan Sessegnon – 7.5 – Tottenham’s best threat in the first-half with those late runs down the left against Trent. At times, you just want more killer instinct but he played pretty well today.

Ben Davies – 7.5 – A pretty solid performance from Davies. Tottenham’s best defender in that back three and was really neat and tidy on the ball, especially on the underlap in the final half hour.

Clement Lenglet – 7 – Really confident on the ball, especially in the second half. Ran into trouble at times, but at least he was trying to make things happen and drive forward. Can be a little sloppy with his defensive positioning at times.

Eric Dier – 5 – Does not look as comfortable defending on that right side. Was all over the place at times in the first 45 and his backwards header cost Spurs a point. He did look very good going forward down the right in the second half though.

Emerson Royal – 4 – Yes, some of his defending was solid. But Emerson offered so little going forward today when there was so much space for him to work with. Spurs need so much more output down the right to match Perisic and Sess on the left.

Rodrigo Bentancur – 7 – By no means a bad performance but not up to his usual standards. Kept Spurs ticking over in the second half but was a little sloppy in the first 45, which is unlike him.

Yves Bissouma – 8 – His best game in a Tottenham shirt, for me. Broke up play for fun in the second half which gave Spurs the chance to put non-stop pressure on the Liverpool back line. Very underrated performance and seems to be growing into his role.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6 – Worked hard as always in there and defended superbly. However, he wasn’t quite as composed on the ball as normal and misplaced a fair few balls between the lines to the front men.

Harry Kane – 7 – Struggled to get into the game. Wasn’t the best with the ball at his feet and Spurs struggled to create consistent chances for him. Well-taken goal and almost got an assist for Perisic too.

Ivan Perisic – 8 – Wow did this guy work hard today. Sprinted for the entire 90 minutes. So unlucky to hit the woodwork twice and almost recorded a couple of assists too. Great performance that was a few inches away from a match-winning one.

Substitutes:

Dejan Kulusevski – 8 – Maybe it’s generous but Spurs looked a different team when he came on. Instant assist, committed defenders, and put in some devilish crosses. Had he not been injured the past month, Spurs would have won more games, simple.

Matt Doherty – 7 – Has to be the first-choice RWB. The difference between him and Emerson was night and day. Actually offered something down the right and worked well with Deki.

Lucas Moura – N/A