Klopp's Kop reign begins with draw
Juergen Klopp's reign as Liverpool boss began with a few points made but only one gained from their clash with Spurs.
|||London - Juergen Klopp's reign as Liverpool manager began with a few points made but only one gained from an exciting, end-to-end 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Klopp's new team displayed signs of the high energy, high-pressing full-throttle footballing style he perfected at Borussia Dortmund, but without the injured Daniel Sturridge in attack, they lacked the guile to break down a resilient Spurs defence.
Spurs though displayed the high-pressing game which their coach Mauricio Pochettino favours but the hosts failed to find a route to goal and in the end a draw was a fair reflection of the game.
Spurs have now stretched their run to eight league matches without defeat since the opening day while Liverpool have drawn six of their last seven games in all competitions with Klopp now a little wiser about his new side.
Tottenham are now seventh in the table with 14 points, a point clear of Liverpool in ninth.
Liverpool were totally dominant for the first 20 minutes until Spurs began to establish themselves and took charge for the rest of the first half.
Divock Origi had Liverpool's best scoring chance in that opening spell when he headed against Hugo Lloris's crossbar from inside the six-yard box.
Yet even though Liverpool's high-pressing game, epitomised by some marauding menace from Emre Can, penned Spurs back, their defence held firm.
Gradually Spurs gained a foothold in midfield with Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela seeing more of the ball.
With Clinton Njie, who replaced the injured Nacer Chadli after 11 minutes, having an increasing influence, Spurs looked the more dangerous side.
Njie forced Simon Mignolet into an excellent, full-stretch diving save after 28 minutes with a swerving shot from the outside of his right foot then Harry Kane and Dele Alli forced Mignolet and defender Mamadou Sakho into two vital blocks in the 37th minute.
Njie went close again with a sizzling shot from 20 metres that hit the top of the net four minutes before the break.
Neither team created a real clear-cut scoring chance in the second half, but the play was no less entertaining.
Liverpool never regained their early dominance, and at times had to defend with nine men behind the ball as Spurs came forward in search of the winner.
While the hosts never found an opening, they at least ended Liverpool's run of five successive league wins over them which included victories of 5-0 and 3-0 at White Hart Lane in the last two seasons.
Reuters