I'll have a more detailed report in the morning, but due to the timing of this one, it's not going to be as instant as usual. For those who don't know, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur drew 0-0 at Anfield on Monday in a wild, physical and somewhat dirty game. Both teams engaged in quite a bit of dirty tackling and simulation, with Liverpool doing more of the dirty tackling and Tottenham doing more of the simulating. It looked much more like a Championship or MLS encounter than a game between two teams fighting for Champions League.
Scott Parker was my man of the match for his numerous spectacular blocked shots, with Michael Dawson and Ledley King close behind for their strong performance in the center of defense. Once again, Niko Kranjcar was surprisingly effective. Jake Livermore was neither good nor bad, while Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Kyle Walker were their usual selves -- flashes of brilliance and occasional insane rushes of blood to the head.
Luka Modric was brilliant in the first half and a little shaky in the second. Both Emmanuel Adebayor and Gareth Bale were disappointing. With Rafael van der Vaart and Jermain Defoe out, they need to get themselves into positions to score. They didn't do so very often, and fluffed their chances when they did.
This is not to be overly critical of Bale and Ade. The service to them was mediocre and Liverpool's defense played very well. Playing at Anfield is always tough and the side performed well enough to get a draw. Though the performance was not the best, a point away to Liverpool is a decent result.
We'll have some real analysis tomorrow. This serves as your post-match thread. Please keep "F--K BALE" and "LOL LUIS SUAREZ IS A RACIST" commentary to a minimum. Respectful game discussion and light-hearted jokes, please.