Tottenham’s difficult start to the season suffered another blow on Tuesday night, as Roberto De Zerbi’s side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup following a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
Spurs travelled to Merseyside hoping for a response after a winless, goalless start to their Premier League campaign, but left with another chastening result — their 18th match at Anfield without a win, a run stretching back to 2011.
De Zerbi made eight changes from Saturday’s goalless draw with Everton, handing full debuts to Tosin Adarabioyo and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and naming 20-year-old Archie Gray as captain. Mohammed Kudus started too — his first appearance since January.
Spurs actually began the brighter side, with Lucas Bergvall spurning a golden chance from eight yards inside the opening quarter of an hour and Kudus somehow blazing over from six yards after a low cross from Destiny Udogie. But Liverpool were ruthless where Tottenham weren’t: Alexis Mac Allister curled in from the edge of the box, Cody Gakpo doubled the lead early in the second half, and although Conor Gallagher pulled one back with a header from Mateus Fernandes’ corner, Dominik Szoboszlai’s late half-volley settled it. Spurs finished with 17 shots to show for their evening — one more frustrating night of chances created but not taken.
Kudus, understandably short of sharpness after such a long lay-off, struggled to influence the game and was among several Tottenham players who came away with modest marks — reports rated him 5/10, his miss from close range the clearest example of his rustiness.
De Zerbi didn’t point the finger at any individual afterwards. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said his side “didn’t deserve to lose,” called the manner of the defeat “unfair” but something to accept, and insisted he still believes in his players and the project: “We need a click. I don’t know if we are able to make this click Saturday, but playing like this and believing in ourselves and our style of play, I think we’ll win many games.”
Attention now turns back to the Premier League, with Aston Villa the visitors to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. It’s another chance for Spurs to get their season moving — and, sharper for the run-out, potentially a good moment for Kudus to start finding his rhythm again.
