Tottenham 1-0 Liverpool (January 8, 2025) Match Analysis

Lucas Bergvall scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur to give his team a 1-0 win over the holders Liverpool in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old Swede slotted a superb finish past Liverpool keeper Alisson in the 86th minute to reward the injury-hit hosts, who had shortly before seen a Dominic Solanke goals excluded.

Liverpool who beat Chelsea winning the competition for the 10th time last season, were nowhere near their best and could have few complaints as their 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end – although many Liverpool players and staff believed that Bergvall should have been sent off for a second yellow card just before his decisive goal.

Arne Slott’s side suffered only their second defeat of the season but will still feel confident of overturning the tie in the second leg at Anfield next month.

Newcastle United beat Arsenal 2-0 away in the first leg of the second semi-final on Tuesday.

Harry Murphy – Danehouse/Getty Images

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Tottenham had won just three of their last 14 matches in all competitions with injuries decimating Ange Postecoglou’s squad and when the midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was taken off on a stretcher after a worrying fall early on, the omens looked bad for the hosts, who handed debuts to new keeper Antonin Kinsky.

Liverpool won 6-3 at Tottenham in the Premier League before Christmas, but they looked listless for long periods on Wednesday despite finishing strongly in both halves.

It was sweet revenge for Tottenham, for whom Bergvall showed why he is rated so highly.

Postecoglou claimed earlier this season that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club, but recent results have put pressure on the Australian.

The fans chanted his name in the end, but as a first trophy since the 2008 League Cup moved a little closer.

Tottenham had the better chances in the first half Radu Dragusin having an early effort saved by Alisson and Solanke collecting one Son Heung-Min cross either side of the long stop for Bentancur’s damage.

Mohamed Salahunusually quiet, fired an effort wide for Liverpool, while Kinsky had a moment of alarm when a shot off Cody Gakpo almost writhing under his body.

Alisson almost gave Tottenham the lead shortly after the break when he grabbed the ball and was denied by Bergvall who pushed the ball back to Pedro Porro whose first shot was blocked by Virgil van Dijk while his follow-up effort was clipped out of a gaping goal, much to the frustration of Postecoglou, who fell to his knees in the technical area.

Liverpool almost took the lead then Trent Alexander-Arnoldon as a substitute, had a shot cleared off the line by Dragusin.

However, Tottenham dug deep and Solanke was denied by a VAR offside decision, with Stuart Attwell becoming the first referee to announce it directly to the crowd.

The hosts were not to be denied, however, and Bergvall sent the home fans into raptures after superb work by Solanke.