Train to Liverpool £23-30
Tea £2
Bus to Anfield £4
Programme £3-50
Parking at Sheffield station £7-50
Match ticket £55
Total £97-50
Unbelievably, I bought tickets for this game way back in November, the day after the France game. Even more strange was the fact that this was only the second Saturday game we've seen at Anfield this season. So many games have been shunted to Sundays due to the demands of TV, and the Europa League.
For today's late kick off we headed across just after lunch, with Liverpool looking to have some say in the extraordinary title race between Spurs and Leicester. Outside the ground on the way into the right hand side of the Main Stand, I was handed a leaflet proposing that Israel be thrown out of UEFA. While I'm not going to offer a comment on the issue, it just shows how closely sport and politics are linked.
On the pitch this was an intriguing clash. Liverpool initially took the game to Spurs but the North London side were extremely difficult to contain. The way that both teams pressed high at every opportunity made the first half pretty energetic, but a fairly equal affair nonetheless. I was particularly impressed by the formation and organisation of a hard-working and extremely fit Spurs side. Sometimes they kept the ball with consummate ease, though their work rate was matched by Klopp's Liverpool.
Barely 8 minutes had passed in the second half and Liverpool were ahead. Sturridge's quick pass to Coutinho set up the Brazilian to slide the ball into the bottom corner. It was a classic Coutinho goal and reminded me of many Scholes and Lampard strikes in the past (quick thinking and arriving late in the box). That could be crucial. But Spurs are made of tough stuff this year, and equalised when Kane turned at a tight angle inside the box, spinning the defence and leaving Mignolet with no chance.
The game could then have gone either way, with the Reds carving out a couple of half chances and Spurs forcing Mignolet into some brilliant saves (he can't catch but he can tip the ball away!) In the end the home side were probably happier with the point, and Tottenham may regard this as 2 points dropped. As we swiftly exited the ground and pretty much straight onto the bus, you got a sense that this title race is entering a decisive final strait.
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