Liverpool

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot finally bowed to the demands to unleash Rio Ngumoha from the start, with the 17-year-old demonstrating what all the fuss and excitement is about with a thrilling display.

Following Max Dowman's brilliant goalscoring cameo in Arsenal's win against Everton, Rio Ngumoha showed further evidence of a bright future for England as he stood out, despite being surrounded by the mediocrity of his Liverpool team-mates.

Ngumoha was a constant threat in one-on-one duels and was always willing to strike on goal, in a performance showing a vision and invention beyond other more experienced players around him.

But the teenager aside, Liverpool lacked urgency and creation and invited the trouble that eventually led to Richarlison punishing Slot's side at the end.

Richarlison's equaliser carried a sense of inevitability, the Brazilian cupping an ear to The Kop who jeered him throughout for his previous Everton connections.

Liverpool looked set to move into the Premier League's top four until they conceded, but can have no complaints about the outcome. Anfield let Slot and his players know exactly what they thought with resounding jeers at the final whistle.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot speaking to Sky Sports after their draw with Tottenham: "Again in the last minute, again after an opportunity to score ourselves and again we leave the pitch with a disappointing result. The way we concede is not always the same in the last minute. You cannot compare the deflected shot against Wolves with the shot today.

"All of the moments they had came from long balls and second balls and we were not able to clear the ball fast enough. The last 20 minutes we were in counter attacks but not able to score from those moments. As this season is going, it is not a complete surprise we are conceding in the last moments.

"We are never able to outscore the amount of chances we have. There are parts of our game that we definitely need to improve and that's why we are in this position."

On Rio Ngumoha: "I think I have said two months ago, he progressed so well as a 16-year-old and now 17 he is progressing well. A performance like today will only help him to get more minutes for this club."

On what to fix between now and next season: "We have conceded far too many goals to pick up the amount of points that this club and I am used to. We have so much attacking quality but if you don't score enough, you have to keep a clean sheet and we haven't done that enough this season."

You can listen to Slot speak to Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds here

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Liverpool's performance

What did you make of Tottenham's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Liverpool make five changes from the side that lost away to Galatasaray in the Champions League - but the stand out selection is Mohamed Salah, substituted in Turkey, being dropped to the bench.

Rio Ngumoah, just 17, starts his first Premier League game, while Alisson is back in goal in place of Giorgi Mamardashvili after missing out in midweek through injury.

Ibramhima Konate is also left out after a poor performance in midweek, while Andrew Robertson comes in for Milos Kerkez.

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Gomez, Van Dijk, Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Gakpo, Robertson, Frimpong, Gravenberch, Ngumoha.

Subs: Mamardashvili, Konate, Kerkez, Salah, Chiesa, Jones, Ekitike, Nyoni, Ramsay.

Spurs interim head coach Igor Tudor is without 13 players through injury and suspension as he tries to ease growing relegation worries at Liverpool.

The Croatian makes four changes from the side thrashed 5-2 away to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, but is only able to name seven substitutes, including two keepers.

Guglielmo Vicario returns in goal for Antonin Kinsky, substituted after only 17 minutes in the Madrid debacle.

Captain Cristian Romero is out with concussion suffered in Madrid, while Micky van de Ven is out suspended after his sending off against Crystal Palace.

Radu Dragusin and Souza come in, while Dominic Solanke replaced Randal Kolo Muani.

Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Dragusin, Danso; Spence, Gray, Sarr, Souza; Richarlison, Solanke, Tel.

Subs: Kinsky, Austin, Simons, Kolo Muani, Olusesi, Roswell, Wilson.

There are four games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Crystal Palace v Leeds - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Man Utd v Aston Villa - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Nottingham Forest v Fulham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Liverpool v Tottenham (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-offs 14:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Crystal Palace v Leeds" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Liverpool v Spurs", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

How on earth can anyone back Spurs to get anything at the moment?

Igor Tudor is making me look like I was a competent manager when I was in charge of Lincoln.

The Spurs fans in Madrid were singing about playing Lincoln away next season - the Imps are top of League One - can you imagine me up against Tudor in the dugout?

He has taken over a difficult situation but he has gone about things in a very odd way.

It might be the done thing in Croatia or Italy to go into a club and tell the players some truths and say they are rubbish, but it is one thing doing it behind closed doors, and another to do it publicly.

There just seems to be so many things wrong at Spurs. They sacked Thomas Frank, thinking they were going to get this short-term fix from Tudor, but they have got a guy who has had a short-term shocker.

Liverpool are far from convincing either, mind you. It's not impossible that Spurs scramble a win here because Arne Slot's side were lousy in Turkey on Tuesday.

Slot has got the second leg against Galatasaray to think about, and they will make changes - but they surely can't lose to Tottenham, can they?

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

After a shambolic defeat by Atletico Madrid, under-pressure Tottenham boss Igor Tudor must steady the ship against inconsistent Liverpool. BBC Sport examines some of the key themes before Sunday's match (16:30 GMT).

Familiar failings for Reds

Liverpool boss Arne Slot complained that his side's league loss to Wolves on 3 March was the "same old story", with his side dominating possession but struggling to create clear-cut chances from open play.

Tuesday's Champions League defeat at Galatasaray was more end-to-end but also had a distinct air of deja vu. Just like in October's 1-0 loss to the Turkish club, the Merseysiders were unconvincing at the back and wasteful in attack, losing by the same score in Slot's 100th match in charge.

While the Reds may fancy their chances of overturning a one-goal deficit in next week's second leg, they have struggled when forced on to the back foot this season, losing 12 times after conceding the opening goal.

On league duty, they have been beaten in eight of 11 games when their opponents scored first and have lost nine times in total – more top-flight defeats than in their previous two seasons combined.

A visit from 'Doctor Tottenham' could be just the tonic they need, though. Spurs have won just one Premier League game at Anfield in 33 years and have conceded 17 goals in their past four games there.

Pressure mounts on Tudor

Time is running out for relegation-threatened Tottenham and their beleaguered head coach Igor Tudor. Spurs have lurched from one disaster to another since his appointment a month ago and have looked ill-suited to the Croat's 3-4-2-1 system, losing all four games and conceding 14 goals.

Tuesday's mauling in Madrid, in which they were four goals down inside 22 minutes, has left Tudor's man-management under increased scrutiny.

The decision to hand Antonin Kinsky his debut in the Champions League proper backfired horribly, with the goalkeeper gifting the opposition two goals before being humiliatingly substituted after 17 minutes. Tudor failed to acknowledge the Czech as he came off but insisted he was protecting the youngster.

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust has called for "emergency" action in the wake of the midweek debacle, warning the club "are sleepwalking off the edge of a cliff".

Spurs' problems clearly run deeper than Tudor. They have the worst points-per-game average over any 38-game period in their Premier League history, taking just 0.87 points per match during this period.

If they extend their dismal record at Anfield it will mean they have failed to win any of their 12 top-flight games in 2026. Only three teams have waited longer for their first Premier League victory in a calendar year - Derby County (2008), Sunderland (2003) and Middlesbrough (2017) - and all three were relegated.

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

With fifth place likely to lead to Champions League qualification again, just three points separate Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Liverpool for a place in the top five, with one of those sides looking set to miss out.

Some would say Villa have the easiest run-in of the quartet. After a tough trip to Old Trafford this weekend, they face four of the bottom six in their next six games, although whether playing sides fighting for survival is an advantage at this stage is debatable.

Liverpool are the team currently outside the top five. They have the chance to build momentum against a run of mid-table sides before tackling a daunting series of games in May, when they play all three of their Champions League-chasing rivals in succession.

A couple of months ago, Aston Villa looked almost nailed on for a top-five finish as they sat at least eight points clear of the other three teams despite their underlying numbers being much worse.

They were even portrayed as possible title contenders, but a spate of injuries to key players and a drying-up of the xG-defying screamers they scored from outside the box earlier in the season allowed their rivals to make up ground.

Read more here

Josh Sexton
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Mo Salah has posed a real conundrum for Arne Slot this season, in a way that no other veteran presence in the Liverpool side really has.

Virgil van Dijk has had disappointing moments, but has mostly maintained his high standards. While Alisson Becker's kicking in particular has left a lot to be desired, he has still made some huge saves that have kept the Reds relatively competitive. Andy Robertson's role is more cut-and-dry now, but he still shows flashes of what he can do whenever he comes in.

Yet Salah stands alone as somebody whose usual positive, certainly in terms of direct involvement, has not really been felt.

There's a chance that pushing his body to the limits for another record-breaking, title-winning season last year took it out of the 33-year-old. That's where I keep finding myself wondering if there's anything Liverpool could be doing to make it a little bit easier on our Egyptian King.

It was before my time, but I reflect on the permanent switch Roy Evans made to prolong John Barnes' career, another flying forward who used his pace to cut inside and score many great goals.

The Liverpool legend was moved into midfield to make the most of his technical ability, as the physical side of his game began to wane.

While Slot's midfield already feels too imbalanced and in need of Florian Wirtz's attacking flair to create anything this season, doing the same with Salah doesn't seem completely intuitive. Plus, it feels better to find a way to unlock Hugo Ekitike once again through the middle than to shift him elsewhere to move Salah more central up top.

Then, Salah received the ball from a Giorgi Mamardashvili long kick in Istanbul on Tuesday night, and found himself on the left-hand side. With the pitch more open to him, he played a great ball with his left foot that didn't quite reach an onrushing attacker, but I believed at least that I'd seen the vision.

Because Salah's biggest problem this season is that he hasn't got the pace to go wide of his man, and defenders seem completely fine to show him down the line and squeeze the angle so that he can't do as much with his left foot, which has resulted in a lot of increasingly frustrating attempted left-footed passes being intercepted.

So would a move to the left-hand side actually open up the pitch for Mo more? While it doesn't seem like much, Cody Gakpo has also frustrated this season, and Rio Ngumoha has even shown good stuff on the right-hand side, operating in a not-too-dissimilar way.

It might just be a way to mix things up enough to keep the opponent guessing, as everything else Liverpool have tried has felt telegraphed and predictable so far.

Find more from Josh Sexton on outlets including The Anfield Wrap, external

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Tottenham at Anfield (kick-off 16:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Slot was not "100% sure" on goalkeeper Alisson's fitness and ability to train with the team on Friday, but confirmed the issue is "minor" and is hopeful he will be back either for Sunday or Wednesday's return leg against Galatasaray in the Champions League. He also confirmed Federico Chiesa should be well enough to train and be available, while Alexander Isak remains with the rehab team.

• The Reds boss said there is a "big difference between where we are now and where we were then" as they face Spurs almost a year on from the corresponding fixture last season when they confirmed themselves as champions, but they "have a point to prove" after two defeats and playing in front of their own fans "is something we will always find special".

• On setting the bar high last campaign: "The bar is always high at Liverpool. We are a top club and the bar should be set high by those around us, but we will also set the bar high. Last season, we achieved one of things we wanted to achieve and were close to winning the League Cup too. This year, we are unable to win the league again but we are still in two cups where we are competing."

• Asked whether the form of relegation-threatened Spurs and playing at Anfield - where they could get their 1,500th home league win - increases expectation, Slot responded: "If Tottenham were first in the league at the moment, everyone would expect us to win. Every game this club plays at home we are expected to win. Nothing to do with form, where they are in league or the quality they have. Expectation comes from history... no matter who we face, expectations are sky high."

• Slot agreed Liverpool "didn't play our best game of the season" against Galatasaray and it was another example of them having "struggled to convert chances" alongside their "bad cocktail" of conceding from few chances. He added: "If this is the case, then games are difficult [to win]".

• Rio Ngumoha has had to be "treated carefully" this season because of his age, but he is "definitely an option to start" one of their upcoming three games as you "need more than 11 players with this schedule".

• On Ryan Gravenberch's new contract: "It's obvious and clear that the club and I see the importance of him and how much he has developed. As a result of that, he has signed a new contract. He's another player who was signed very young and has the ability to grow."

Hear more from Slot on BBC Sounds here

Listen to full commentary of Liverpool v Tottenham at 16:30 on Sunday on BBC Sounds

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Got a question about Liverpool? Get in touch here and we'll put it to our experts

Wayne Rooney welcomes his former England and Manchester United team-mate Michael Owen on the latest edition of The Wayne Rooney Show.

Like Rooney at Everton, Owen burst on to the scene as a teenager at Liverpool, so the pair discuss who was the better player at 18, and also whether Michael Carrick should get the United job permanently.

Rooney and Owen were at the centre of an intense "who was better?" debate last year.

The conversation began in September when Owen backed himself, external, saying injuries had hindered his own career, before adding: "He'll go down as a better player than me. But, at 17, please... "

However, the 2001 Ballon d'Or winner was more diplomatic on Rooney's podcast when they considered who was the better footballer at 18.

Owen recalled the period when Rooney emerged as a teenage England star at Euro 2004 - six years after Owen had made a similar splash at the 1998 World Cup.

"It felt like it took me ages to become England's number one striker and it felt like I was only there for two weeks before he came along and I had to become the sideshow," said Owen, who played 89 times for England compared to Rooney's 120 appearances.

Rooney said: "I used to pretend to be Michael in the World Cup in 1998, and then I was in the squad and playing up front with him.

"I was in the garden two years before hitting the ball against my nan's wall pretending to be Michael and all of a sudden I'm playing alongside him."

Hit play above to hear the whole episode or listen here on BBC Sounds

Liverpool insiders have dismissed rumours that attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz could be offloaded to Real Madrid after just one season at Anfield. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

The Redmen TV's Dan Clubbe speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside about the Champions League defeat by Galatasaray:

"We are guilty of not being as clinical as we should be.

"Ultimately, we're not creating enough to win the game. I don't think we were particularly threatening, or that the passages of play we put together really resembled anything like a proper, competitive football team.

"I think there was enough fight, endeavour in the performance generally but it was littered with individual errors - particularly at the back.

"Ibrahim Konate had a night to forget, and that's an understatement. I've been really pleased with him in recent weeks, his performances have taken a turn for the better - but his performance against Galatasaray was terrible."

You can listen to Dan's full analysis below or on BBC Sounds

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha thinks both his former club and Chelsea face too much of an uphill battle to progress in the Champions League.

Both face three-goal deficits going into home legs, with Onuoha stating: "While they will have the belief they can do it, I think the margins are far too big. So while the game is still on for all the English sides, the margin of error is tiny for some of them now."

Their defeats come during a week in which English sides have struggled in Europe, with no wins recorded across six ties.

BBC Sport's Phil McNulty said we have seen "24 hours in which the Premier League's self-styled reputation as the best in the world suffered heavy damage".

"The Premier League's power was supposedly emphasised by having six teams in the last 16 following the league stage, but this was something of a cold shower hosed on talk of its supremacy," McNulty wrote.

All six English teams have now been given a lower predicted chance of reaching the last eight by Opta than before the last-16 first legs.

Arsenal remain favourites to progress, while Liverpool stay second favourites despite trailing by a goal after the first leg.

Liverpool and Arsenal lead the race to sign Stuttgart and Germany Under-21 defender Finn Jeltsch, 19, with Bayern Munich also interested. (Teamtalk)., external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Gabby Logan presents highlights of the first-leg ties from the Champions League round of 16. Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle are the six Premier League clubs in action alongside 15-time winners Real Madrid, current holders Paris Saint-Germain and surprise package Bodo/Glimt

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Real Madrid 3-0 Man City

• Leverkusen 1-1 Arsenal

• Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool

• Newcastle 1-1 Barcelona

• Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk remains confident his side can overturn their first-leg loss at Galatasaray, despite admitting his side will "have to fight" for a spot in the quarter-finals.

The Reds suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat by Galatasaray on Tuesday, with the second leg to be played at Anfield next week.

Not only will Liverpool have a home advantage for the second leg, but Galatasaray must also make the trip without any fans after they were banned from selling tickets because of crowd disturbances in the previous round.

"We have to fight, we have to deserve it. We have to earn the next round," Van Dijk said after the loss.

"Next week obviously is the decider.

"The matter of fact is that we're at home, I think there's only our fans there, so hopefully it's going to be an amazing evening for us.

"We have to show that we want and deserve to go through, in the way we play, defend and attack, so that's the aim.

"We play for the badge, for the club, for trying to get results, and everyone has to contribute in that."

Chloe Bloxam
Fan contributor

The Redmen TV's Chloe Bloxam has given her review of Liverpool's 1-0 Champions League last-16 first-leg defeat by Galatasaray:

"It was another dismal performance from Liverpool which highlighted once again their inconsistency.

"Sometimes they can play well. More often than not, they probably don't.

"I've got no idea of what Arne Slot was asking from the players, or how we were actually set up in that game of football - aside from the first 10 minutes where they were playing out from the back, we were pressing really high up the pitch, winning the ball back in dangerous positions, not converting the big chances that we had.

"But it looked like we had an idea of how they were going to set up and we knew how to combat it.

"Galatasaray changed the game plan and started to go long - which worked.

"I've just got no idea from when they started to go long what our tactic was, what we were trying to do, because we really weren't in that game of football bar the first 10-15 minutes.

"Galatasaray were much the better side and tactically I've got no idea what we were attempting or what the answer was to them going long and Liverpool certainly didn't have the answer."

Find more from Chloe Bloxam at The Redmen TV, external

We asked for your views on Liverpool's defeat by Galatasaray in the Champions League.

Here are some of your comments:

Jack: What an abysmal way to celebrate Slot's 100th game in charge. Slow, lethargic and unenthusiastic football. Even when we were attacking, Galatasaray looked the likelier team to score. Salah was invisible again and Konate was hanging on by a thread defensively, the goal ruled out was unlucky but I still have the belief we can overturn the deficit in the second leg.

Paul: Another jittery performance by Liverpool. Cannot understand why Slot opted to play Kerkez over Robertson in such an important game with that relentless atmosphere. I have to finally concede that Salah is lost, I struggle to understand how he's lost his attacking threat to this extent. Wirz is a good player but I can't remember a great deal he did other than miss two good chances. We basically didn't look like scoring tonight. Tough place to go but still worrying.

Narv: Everybody dissing the manager and the players. It's 1-0 away in a boiling cauldron. We play home in a week. Judge the team after the return leg for crying out loud. Everybody great at criticising, such is the world we live in.

Adam: Yes, Galatasaray are a decent team and it's an intimidating arena. However, it was telling that, as with Slot's comments, the similarities to three months ago were there. Liverpool have made very little to no progress since then. A typical Liverpool performance. A team that is lacking in confidence, not ability.

Mike: Disorganised, leaderless, random with only a vague idea what to do - everything galatasary were not! No energy, no fizz, and mistakes at the back creeping up again. Enough please.

Jeremy: They play so far below their potential I am certain that Slot has lost the dressing room and confidence of the players. The team is coasting to the end of the season.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock says there is a "lack of belief" at times within the current Reds squad.

Arne Slot's side lost 1-0 to Galatasaray for the second time this season, leaving a deficit to overturn in next week's last 16 second leg at Anfield.

"They were too powerful for Liverpool, too strong, too direct," Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"They were physically too strong and if Liverpool play like that at Anfield, Galatasaray will fancy their chances. So, there's got to be a change in the way that Liverpool approach the game.

"The quality wasn't there at all but we know at Anfield it's a different beast and a different atmosphere completely.

"The fans will be right behind their team and, like Galatasaray tonight, the players will be galvanised and pushing to get over the line.

"There's a mentality problem at the club at the moment, meaning once they go a goal behind the fingers start getting pointed and they start blaming each other.

"There isn't a collective togetherness to go and get that result and put things right.

"You've got to be more clinical, especially away from home. I thought the Inter Milan win would be the turning point of their season when they were well-organised but ever since then it's been up and down and the toss of a coin as to what Liverpool is going to show up.

"There's definitely problems within the team right now. There's a lack of belief at times, a lack of understanding of what's being asked of them. Some players want to play compact and organised and some want to play open, expansive football.

"You've got to find that balance that allows you to attack and defend as a team."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Liverpool remain in the market for a defender this summer and Eintracht Frankfurt's Germany international Nnamdi Collins is a target, with Arsenal also monitoring the 22-year-old. (Mirror), external

Tottenham Hotspur are still keen to sign Scotland left-back Andy Robertson despite their failed attempt in January, with Liverpool having decided to let the veteran control his own destiny when the 31-year-old's contract expires this summer. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport