Published: 18 October, 2015
by DAN CARRIER at White Hart Lane

Premier League
SPURS 0, LIVERPOOL 0

MAURICIO Pochettino cursed his team's luck after he watched his charges fail to finish off visitors Liverpool, despite enjoying plenty of possession and created plenty of openings.

The 0-0 draw means his side are unbeaten in nine games, losing only their season-opener versus Manchester United, but the head coach admitted he was disappointed not to grab three points.

“I think we should have won it,” he said. “Liverpool only had one clear chance, and that was from a corner when we had 10 men on the field. In the first half, we had four clear chances. Simon Mignolet in goal saved Liverpool.”

Despite the disappointment of points dropped at home, he said he couldn't fault the overall performance.

“We're a young side and we are learning,” he added. “I'm happy. We need to be clinical in front of goal, but this is now nine Premier League games since we were beaten.”

And he sent a message to Harry Kane, who once again fired blanks.

“Harry had two clear chances,” he said. “How many did any other striker have? Let's not criticise him. We expect Harry to score every time he touches the ball. He worked hard. A goal will come.”

Liverpool started with plenty of enthusiasm. With Jurgen Klopp's first pre-match team talk still ringing in his players' ears, they pressed Spurs back. Early on, Divock Origi hit the bar with a close-range header, and Spurs had to scramble away a couple of corners.

But mid-way through the period, the home team settled. Substitute Clinton Njie, who replaced Nacer Chadli after the winger damaged an ankle, saw a curling effort tipped around the post by Reds keeper Mignolet. Kane then saw a goalbound effort saved after a Christian Eriksen-inspired break, while Njie ended the first 45 with an edge-of-the-box shot that was inches over.

Both sides kept up a hectic pace in a second half with plenty of effort but not enough know-how for either team to clinch a vital winner. Kyle Walker went close with 30-yard shot, then, in a similar position, whacked one high and wide. In the last 10, Kane had a chance that last season would have had "hero" written all over it. On 84, Danny Rose went down the line, Eriksen wriggled across the face of the box and laid it up nicely for the forward. Mignolet, at full stretch, got enough of a glove to it to push it away from danger.

SPURS: Lloris, Walker, Rose, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Kane, Lamela (Townsend, 86), Dembele, Alli, Chadli (Njie, 10), Eriksen.
Subs: Vorm, Njie, Trippier, Townsend, Wimmer, Winks, Davies.

SPURS COMMENT by Dan Carrier  

STILL the drought goes on. Kane had two good shots saved that on another day could have flown in, and he worked tirelessly. There seemed to be a moment of hesitation before he shot, perhaps a sign of a lack of confidence. He needs a lucky break.

There were rumours this week that Mousa Dembele was heading to Napoli in January. But while he may have fallen down the pecking order, with Dele Alli and Eric Dier joining Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason as central options, he stood in for the suspended Dier and was superb. He showed a solid range of tackling, passing and dribbling.

Another positive note was the clean sheet. Spurs looked solid at the back. Vertonghen and Alderweireld are a clear upgrade on recent centre-back partnerships.