As the clock ticked down towards the 90th minute, Tottenham Hotspur’s first positive performance under Igor Tudor looked to be a missed opportunity.
He has made a point of communicating a “small-team mentality” as Spurs boss, suggesting the team’s best shot at survival lies in bridging the gap in quality through effort and fight. Until Sunday, that had seemed at odds with a group that had become accustomed to losing.
The alarm bells of their protracted slide from European contenders to relegation candidates were ringing last season, but in the wake of the Europa League success, they were drowned out by promises of a new era under Vinai Venkatesham and the Lewis family. In reality, they picked up one win from their last 12 league matches last term, and their slide into a genuine relegation battle was only a continuation of their form through 2025.
Anyone who has watched Tottenham in 2026 — aside from Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt — might echo Tudor’s scathing analysis after the 2-1 away defeat to Fulham, criticising the players for lacking attacking quality, running power in midfield and the ability to “stay (in defence) to suffer and not concede the goal.”
It was his responsibility to fix these issues, and he has clearly fallen short. But just as his era appeared to be nearing a swift end, Tottenham finally embodied that underdog ethos on Sunday at Anfield, picking up a crucial first point of Tudor’s tenure against the reigning Premier League champions.
Owing to injuries and suspensions that kept out Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie — the latter of whom has not yet made a matchday squad under Tudor — the head coach switched from his favoured 3-4-2-1 system to a 4-4-2, with Souza, nominally a left-back, lining up at right wing.
Liverpool pressured Tottenham’s goal in the opening period, and after falling behind to a dipping free kick from Dominik Szoboszlai, the travelling supporters might have expected another collapse. Instead, Tottenham battled their way back into the game, and could have been on level terms through Richarlison with two good opportunities shortly before the half-time whistle.
Tottenham continued to surrender the ball to Liverpool in the second period, but fought through pockets and gaps to create opportunities of their own. Archie Gray and Pape Matar Sarr led the charge through the midfield, while Mathys Tel and Richarlison left everything on the line, desperately working to find a way through. When it hit, with Randal Kolo Muani squaring for Richarlison to slide past Alisson, his international team-mate, the Tottenham end erupted for the first time in what feels like forever.
Richarlison — who else? — scores late at the Kop End (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“It’s a long way to our goal, which is to stay in the Premier League,” Tudor said in his post-match press conference. “Still a lot of games to play, but today was important to show what they showed, independently of the result. When you are honest, you need to be honest and give everything; then the football will give you back.
“That was my words before the game, so this happened today. As I said, it was not easy, and now we need to see what to do in these two games, in front of us, to see who is able to play, who is not able to play, who is injured, who is not injured, so it’s not easy. We continue to have problems from that point of view, the numbers, but that’s why this result is even more important.”
In their position, Tottenham must approach every game with this attitude.
West Ham, who sit 18th, one point below Tottenham, picked up a point against both Manchester sides this year, first ending United’s four-game winning streak before battling their way to a 1-1 draw on Saturday against City. Earlier this month, Nottingham Forest fought back to draw 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium. These are not the kind of matches you picture Nuno Espirito Santo or Vitor Pereira circling with a red marker as opportunities to get points on the board. Still, the momentum positive results bring against top opposition can be worth as much as the points themselves.
Tottenham failed to capitalise on a relatively kind fixture list over the festive period, and are still without their first league win of the calendar year, so the time for red markers is long gone. To shift the mentality of a team that has become accustomed to losing, the “small team” spirit must be adopted regardless of the opposition, and even beyond fixtures like an away trip to Anfield to face Liverpool, where Spurs have not won since 2011.
Because while every game is a cup final to a side one point from the drop zone, Tottenham face the biggest and most consequential test since the final in Bilbao next week.
Spurs can’t forget the scars of the season against Forest, but their performance and crucial point against Liverpool can provide a new reference point to underpin their final eight league games of the campaign.