A late Richarlison goal gave Tottenham a vital point in their fight against relegation and left Liverpool scratching their heads at Anfield after a disjointed display.
Dominik Szoboszlai had given Arne Slot’s side the lead in the first half with another goal direct from a free-kick. But after that, the home side tailed off, producing little of note, despite an impressive first start for 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha.
The result leaves Tottenham on 30 points, and in 16th place, only ahead of Nottingham Forest and West Ham by one. Liverpool are fifth, two points behind Aston Villa, who lost 3-1 to Manchester United earlier on Sunday.
Here, our writers break down the key talking points of the game.
Tottenham take advantage
Against a shaky Liverpool side, Tottenham delivered their best performance of the Tudor era. On a different day, it could have been a more comfortable margin of victory for the home side, with Tottenham, as they have been for much of the season, far too easy to play through in the first half. But, as he threatened to do all afternoon, Richarlison popped up in the 90th minute to deliver their first point since Tudor took charge, a crucial momentum boost ahead of Nottingham Forest next weekend.
Now, Tottenham need to translate that fight and desire demonstrated at Anfield into what is a true relegation six-pointer next Sunday. Forest is the biggest game Tottenham have played since the Europa League final last season, and this boost could not have come at a better time.
Elias Burke
Disjointed Liverpool
This was a result that epitomised Liverpool’s season. Another day of missed chances and another late goal conceded through dreadful defending. For large parts of the second half, Liverpool played with fire as they allowed the game to turn into an end-to-end battle, and ultimately they got what they deserved when conceding the late equaliser.
It was disjointed, far from convincing, and yet another day where Liverpool failed to see off one of the worst teams in the division on current form.
Gregg Evans
Is Szoboszlai the best free-kick taker in the world?
Dominik Szoboszlai chipped in with another vital contribution as he closes in on a record-breaking season.
The Hungarian, who opened the scoring, converted his fourth free-kick of 2025-26 in the Premier League and is now just one away from levelling the record set by two former set-piece specialists.
Xxx [Filed before final whistle, 100]
4 – Dominik Szoboszlai has scored four direct free-kick goals in the Premier League this season, the most ever by a Liverpool player in a single campaign in the competition, with only David Beckham in 2000-01 and Laurent Robert in 2001-02 (both 5) netting more. Fantastic. pic.twitter.com/X3Arm4yD8x
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 15, 2026
Szoboszlai will join David Beckham and Laurent Robert on five direct free-kick goals if he scores another in the closing eight games of the campaign after becoming the first Liverpool player to score four in a season.
Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s shining light this season with his all-action performances, but it’s his goals that have made the headlines. When head coach Arne Slot has needed a moment of magic from his team, often it has been Szoboszlai to set up.
Admittedly, this free kick was not at the same level as his previous efforts, particularly against Manchester City, Arsenal and Bournemouth, and in truth it was more a goalkeeping error from Vicario.
Yet, again, though it was a strike on target, with pace, and that made the difference. Szoboszlai is one of the best dead-ball takers in the world right now, and his five goals in all competitions from direct free kicks puts him level with Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo in the scoring charts across the top five leagues in Europe.
And to think, Liverpool were concerned they would struggle from free kicks when Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid last summer.
Gregg Evans
Tottenham’s keeping problem
In isolation, Igor Tudor’s decision to trial Antonin Kinsky away to Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League seemed like a strange decision. He turned 23 on Friday and has not started a game since the 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle United in October, a game where he made a costly error. But placed in context, it doesn’t sound so ludicrous.
Guglielmo Vicario has been underperforming in a Tottenham shirt for a while. He had an excellent spell in October, including a match-saving performance against Monaco in the league phase 0-0 draw, but aside from that short period, he’s had a tough season between the Spurs sticks. His failure to stop Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick, which was powerful and dipping but nowhere near the corner, is yet another example of his struggles.
Vicario failed to stop the crucial free-kick (Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
After Kinsky’s horror show on Tuesday, it’s difficult to see him displacing Vicario between now and the end of the season, basically handing the Italian the starting spot by default. He’s one of the squad’s most experienced players and was named in Thomas Frank’s senior leadership team, and while he may play an important role in trying to keep spirits high behind the scenes, Tottenham have long needed more from him on the pitch.
He made an impressive save down to his right to prevent a powerful Cody Gakpo shot from nestling into the bottom corner, but remained nervy and inconsistent with his feet. If Tottenham are to survive, they can no longer gift goals to the opposition due to goalkeeping mistakes, so the error-prone Vicario must improve.
Elias Burke
Ngumoha’s impressive start
The most important statistics won’t show the impact that Rio Ngumoha had on this game.
No goals, assists, or key passes, but that’s only half of the story.
For a 17-year-old, who became the fifth youngest top-flight starter for Liverpool, he was again the most vibrant attacker on the pitch and a relentless threat to the Tottenham backline.
7 – Aged 17 years and 198 days, Rio Ngumoha is the youngest player on record (from 2006-07) to complete as many as seven dribbles in a single Premier League game. Flash. pic.twitter.com/cjRTPxIYE7
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 15, 2026
The experienced Pedro Porro had a tough time handling him, particularly in one-on-one situations, and in the second half, before his substitution on 64 minutes, Liverpool found themselves increasingly relying on Ngumoha to spearhead the attack down the left.
He looked bright, sharp, and skilful throughout, and chants of his name could be heard around Anfield as he filled the stadium with excitement.
Liverpool have lacked pace and attacking purpose this season, but Ngumoha brings a totally different outlook.
He completed all six of his dribbles in the first half and looked to be growing in confidence as the game went on.
A couple of chances went begging, and if there was any criticism it’s that he should have at least hit the target with an opportunity early into the second half, but overall this was a good day for the youngster and one that showed he’s more than worthy of his starting place.
Gregg Evans
Tel tale signs of improvement
Tottenham Hotspur’s confidence might be on the floor coming into this clash, but Mathys Tel looked full of confidence at Anfield.
His battle with deputising right-back Szoboszlai was a key feature of the first half in particular, with 63 per cent of Spurs’ attacking touches coming down their left third of the pitch in the opening 45 minutes.
Tel was impressive (Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Quick feet and direct running were served alongside a good final ball in places, with the 20-year-old unlucky not to have had an assist in the first half after two crosses — one in open-play and another from a corner — found Richarlison’s head.
Tel moved to the right flank in the second half, and continued to lead the fight with his progressive carries and neat flicks. It was a performance that was much stronger from the whole Spurs side compared with recent weeks, but Tel looked to be at the heart of all things they did well going forward.
Mark Carey
What did Slot say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What did Tudor say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Liverpool?
Wednesday, March 18: Galatasaray (Home), Champions League round of 16 second leg, 8pm UK, 4pm ET
What next for Tottenham?
Wednesday, March 18: Atletico Madrid (Home), Champions League round of 16 second leg, 8pm UK, 4pm ET