Liverpool had a spanner thrown into their preparations for their visit to Spurs after midfielder Thiago Alcantara was announced as the latest of Jurgen Klopp’s players to test positive for Covid.
A better-focused Harry Kane got Spurs off to an early lead and thanked his lucky stars as he later managed to escape a red card for a robust, two-footed tackle on Andy Robertson.
Diogo Jota equalised in the 35th minute against a wasteful Spurs side and Robertson gallantly headed Liverpool into the lead midway through the second half.
Tottenham fought back resiliently to level five minutes later when Son Heung-Min – capitalising on a failed effort by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker to clear – converged on his prey with the pre-meditated composure of a predator, steering the ball into an empty net.
Moments later Robertson was sent off for a wild tackle on Emerson Royal following a VAR review but Liverpool clung on tenaciously to earn their point.
Klopp commented that it was well nigh impossible to continue as normal in relation to the current Covid situation, flagging the impossibility of his side playing league games on December 26 and 28 as scheduled.
“There’s a big thing that we all have to talk about, can we carry on or not?” he told Sky Sports. “But if we carry on we cannot just carry on like usual and think ‘let’s have a look at who can play and who cannot play’.”
“It’s maybe not fair if some teams lose players and other teams don’t lose players,” Klopp added. “It’s a bit of a lottery. We try everything we can but then you have to be lucky.”