Liverpool 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1: No regrets over team selection, insists Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino insists he harbours no regrets after his much-changed side were dumped out of the EFL Cup by eight-time winners and quarter final-bound Liverpool.
Spurs slumped to their first domestic defeat of the season as striker Daniel Sturridge rediscovered his goalscoring touch with a double strike, while Vincent Janssen’s successfully converted penalty set up a tense finale.
The north Londoners, who are now winless in nine meetings with Liverpool, made 10 changes to their starting line-up from the team which played out a goalless Premier League draw at Bournemouth on Saturday.
“I’m pleased with the performance but not the result,” said Pochettino. “We fought until the end and created chances. It was a great experience and we can take a lot of positives. This will improve our confidence for the future.”
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, hailed the performance of England striker Sturridge, who had been without a Liverpool goal since the Anfield club’s second round clash at Burton Albion.
“It was good, he did what he had to do, and it was brilliant,” said Klopp. “He could have scored three or four, but it was really good. That’s his real strength and he showed it again.”
In a meeting of the past two losing League Cup finalists, Liverpool surged into a ninth-minute lead when Sturridge clipped high past Michel Vorm after Marko Grujic had taken advantage of a slip from Georges-Kevin N’Koudou to slide the ball across the six-yard box.
The goal invigorated Sturridge and moments later he was denied by a scrambling Vorm, who tipped over his curling effort, while a further chance came and went as the 27-year-old could only produce a tame finish after a penetrative run from Divock Origi.
Liverpool fluffed a series of half-chances during the opening stages of the second period, with the best of those seeing Vorm thwart Origi by palming over his long-range shot. Pochettino, meanwhile, turned to more experienced hands as Erik Lamela and Victor Wanyama entered the fray.
The Reds did not have to wait long to double their lead as Sturridge latched onto Georginio Wijnaldum’s perfectly weighted pass, which pierced Tottenham’s retreating defence, before calmly slotting past an exposed Vorm shortly after the hour mark.
Tottenham halved their deficit with 14 minutes remaining as Janssen, who is still without a goal from open play, dispatched a spot-kick after Lamela had been felled in the penalty area by Lucas.
Sturridge was denied a hat-trick when, with minimal back lift, his deflected shot with the outside of his boot struck the crossbar, while 19-year-old Spurs substitute Shayon Harrison failed to control Lamela’s flighted pass when clean through.