At the time of writing, the Reds have clawed their way up the table into fifth and are tied on points with Chelsea. It's insane that we find ourselves above the likes of Sunderland, Man United, and Crystal Palace, who have all enjoyed such encouraging periods this season. I'd describe the majority of our season as, well, discouraging.
That's the thing about the 2025/2026 Premier League, though. No one's truly crushing it. No one's a pushover either.
Take Arsenal's 2-1 home win over Wolves eight days ago. It took two own goals, one scored deep into stoppage time, for the league leaders to dispatch the club wallowing in dead last on two points.
Take the middle of the table. Fourth place and fourteenth place are separated by just seven points. We're playing in a league of cannibals. Every result is earned and the 90 minutes-plus are seldom straightforward. Anyone can beat anyone and anything can happen.
Saturday's Tottenham vs. Liverpool clash was no exception. We saw two red cards, a titanic momentum shift, and a grandstand finish.
The inverse of our recent trips to Tottenham
We've been impacted by abysmal refereeing and brutal luck at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the last few years.
In 2021, Harry Kane was allowed to stay on the pitch after a flying lunge less than 19 minutes in that easily could've snapped Andy Robertson's leg. In the second half, Diogo Jota was denied a nailed-on penalty. Robertson, of all people, was sent off for violent conduct.
In 2023, the most farcical decision of the VAR era robbed us of the opener. Luis Diaz was ruled offside, then the refs realized he was onside, but they still disallowed the goal — a show of incompetence so profane that it overshadowed Curtis Jones' harsh straight red and the first of Diogo Jota's two yellows, awarded for a Spurs player tripping himself. In fitting fashion, our nine men conceded the winner, a Joel Matip own goal, in the 96th minute.
Saturday, the biggest calls and moments went against Tottenham for a change. Xavi Simons' red card could've gone either way. Hugo Ekitike used two hands to climb over Christian Romero and plant the game-winning header. The ref was quick to whistle Spurs for iffy touch fouls that incensed the crowd, particularly in the first half.
We got the breaks we needed, too. Kolo Muani's deflected effort looping down and hitting the bar instead of going in, for instance.
The role reversal alone made the win that much sweeter, but Tottenham's countless awful challenges morphed the feeling into schadenfreude. The home team didn't exactly channel their frustrations in a healthy way. I haven't done the math, but I'm pretty certain 82 Liverpool players left the field injured.
Simons' red card tackle was naughty even if he didn't mean it. Romero's kick into Konate was naughty and he definitely meant it. Van de Ven's slide into Isak as he scored is likely to sideline the Swede for months. Rodrigo Bentancur looked more interested in doing bodily harm than kicking the ball around. And, of course, Richarlison gonna Richarlison.
Another two-goal lead in jeopardy
Yes, there was the elbow on Frimpong. And the hand around Ekitike's neck. But the worst thing Spurs' Brazilan number nine did to Liverpool wasn't petulant or violent. It was just scoring, which inflicts far more pain on this iteration of the Reds than any amount of physical damage can.
It was hard to stomach the game after Richarlison made it 1-2 because we've seen how 1-2 makes us unravel. Liverpool has had two-goal leads erased by Bournemouth, Newcastle, Atletico Madrid, and Leeds this season. With the exception of Newcastle, they dominated those games for long stretches.
Liverpool has also conceded a last-gasp winner or equalizer against Palace, Chelsea, United, and Leeds. Three of those four costly goals came from a long throw or set piece.
For 82 minutes, whether we were up a man or not, Tottenham carried next to no threat. Much like the Leeds game, the first 45 was cagey and devoid of quality, but we held a measure of control. Then we turned up the heat, scored two quality goals, and sucked the air out of the stadium.
Out of nowhere, we conceded.
Our inability to clear the danger from set pieces and throws threatens to undermine all the good work we do, game after game. But the even bigger problem — which goes hand-in-hand with defending set pieces, because it's so often how we get scored on — is our reaction to conceding.
I don't want this piece to sound downbeat because I'm not downbeat. I'm thrilled we've put a mini run together and my Christmas will be considerably better thanks to this win. I thought Wirtz, Ekitike, Szoboszlai, and even Kerkez were really good, especially in the second half. I thought the goalkeeper's presence won us the game in the end, as I can't picture Mamardashvili keeping the ball out of our goal during Spurs' stoppage time siege.
But failing to clear a bouncing ball in the aftermath of yet another corner was concerning. Panicking and failing to keep possession for more than five seconds when we had two extra players, just because we got scored on, was more concerning. When we concede this season, especially if it's late in the game, we typically respond by clamming up and inviting more pressure.
There are reasons to be happy with the Reds this holiday season: namely results. That's more than we could say a matter of days ago.
But there are warning signs, too. Left unheeded, the results could stop coming.