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| What? ... No i'm not bloody offside! Meow... |
Anfield was excited to see Luis Suarez back but the Uruguayan had to settle for the bench as Carroll was chosen again to lead the line. Jose Enrique was out with a mild injury and so Glen Johnson was moved to left back with Martin Kelly on the right.
The first half didn't provide many clear cut chances for Liverpool but it was still those in Red shirts attacking more often than those in White. Spurs were relatively quiet and Reina had nothing of note to do during the first 45 minutes.
Part of the reasoning behind Reina having nothing to do was the fact that Dirk Kuyt and Jay Spearing were working their socks off to stop the likes of Bale and Modric breaking through the Liverpool midfield. A lot of people didn't think Kuyt would be suited to this game and in all honesty he was a bit sloppy with his passes on Monday night but Dalglish isn't stupid, when you've got Kuyt on your tail you're bound to get frustrated, Bale was kept extremely quiet.
Bale had two key moments in the second half, the first of which came after a dive. The Welshman fell to the floor after no contact what so over from Daniel Agger and then Bale thought it would be a good idea to push Agger and start an altercation. It was clear Bale's temperature was rising from frustration.
Craig Bellamy for Liverpool unfortunately wasn't as lively as usual. With the Reds unable to find a goal, Craig has been somebody the fans have looked to of late for that bit of magic but not even he could produce against Spurs.
Just after the hour mark Anfield got their chance to welcome back Luis Suarez. He's been sorely missed by a Liverpool side who are still struggling to score goals and it was great to see him back.
We saw some twists and turns from Suarez but he never really got a proper shot at goal. His team mate Andy Carroll though who had a great game and produced some top flick ons and quick movement had a chance to get Liverpool a winner late on. Unfortunately for Carroll, he couldn't quite take the shot right.
Gareth Bale also had a chance to grab Spurs the points late on when he was one on one with Reina. Bale hit his effort straight at the keeper though and the danger was eventually cleared.
In most cases a draw with a side that are third in the table would be a good result but after the performance put in by Liverpool it was very disappointing. The effort put in deserved three points in my opinion.
Next up for the Reds is the small matter of Manchester United!