Ten Changes, No Difference: Liverpool's Fringe Players Expose Spurs' Deeper Problem

Andoni Iraola made ten changes to his Liverpool line-up for a Carabao Cup third-round tie against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night, and Anfield still produced a result that fit a pattern rather than an upset. Goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo and a stoppage-time strike from Dominik Szoboszlai gave the Reds a 3-1 win over Roberto De Zerbi's side, with Conor Gallagher's reply arriving too late to change much beyond Tottenham's own record book. The scoreline mattered less than what produced it: a heavily rotated Liverpool team that still looked sharper, quicker to the ball and more clinical than a Spurs side De Zerbi described afterwards as unlucky rather than beaten.

Ten changes, no argument

Iraola stripped ten places out of the team that had struggled for intensity against Fulham at the weekend, and the response he got back suggests the issue was never about who wears the shirt. Lewis Koumas was named player of the match for an eager display, while Trey Nyoni produced what was described as a mature performance in midfield. Iraola made the connection explicit afterwards, saying he had told his squad during the week what he saw in training every day: "The energy that he shows is contagious for the rest." He added that when the players in front show that energy, it forces the rest of the team to follow suit from deeper positions.

Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp framed the pressing that followed as a direct import from Iraola's time at Bournemouth, praising how often Liverpool won the ball back because they were quick and aggressive against a Tottenham side trying to play out from the back. Redknapp's verdict was that the approach will take time to bed in fully, but that Liverpool will get there. On this evidence, a matchday squad missing ten regular starters offered little to contradict him.

Three goals, one gap

The pattern was set early. Lucas Bergvall should have put Spurs ahead inside the first quarter of an hour, but his close-range effort found the legs of Giorgi Mamardashvili rather than the net. Liverpool made Tottenham pay for the miss within ten minutes, Mac Allister curling the opener high into the goal in the 21st minute. Mohammed Kudus then volleyed high and wide from a good position created by Destiny Udogie before half-time, and Liverpool's greater efficiency showed again in the 54th minute when Gakpo fired in a second in front of the Kop, the finish capping what was described as an excellent team move.

Szoboszlai settled it in stoppage time with a strike beyond Martin Dubravka that Iraola called a "worldie" in his post-match press conference, adding: "With other players you are thinking it is too far. With Dom you are thinking he might score." It was the kind of goal that turns a routine cup win into the headline moment of the night.

Player Focus - Dominik Szoboszlai

Dominik Szoboszlai

Midfielder · Age 25 · #8 · Hungary

Liverpool

Competition	St	G	A	SoT	Y
Champions League	1	1	0	1	0
Premier League	4	1	0	5	0
Total	5	2	0	6	0

Season stats per competition · Source: ESPN

Gallagher's goal and the numbers stacking up against Spurs

Gallagher's close-range header in the 69th minute gave Tottenham something concrete from a difficult night: their first goal of the season against top-flight opposition. It arrived without Richarlison, left out of the squad entirely, and it needed a fine save from Mamardashvili to deny Omar Marmoush an equaliser afterwards. The stat attached to Gakpo's goal says more about where the two clubs currently stand than the final score does on its own - the Dutchman, a summer target for Tottenham, now has more Premier League goals this season than Spurs do as a team.

Redknapp's assessment of Tottenham's night was more generous than the numbers suggest, noting a sharper display from Bergvall and adding that De Zerbi's side "could have had two or three goals" on another day. That caveat matters. It is also the same caveat that keeps following this Tottenham side around.

De Zerbi's search for 'a click'

De Zerbi's post-match comments read as a manager defending a process rather than a result. He said Tottenham needed "a click," and while he could not promise it would arrive by Saturday, he argued that sticking with his style and belief would eventually bring wins and goals given the quality he sees in his squad. He added that his side "didn't deserve to lose" on the night, called it the first season of "building totally different things" at the club, and insisted he had no doubts about the project despite what he described as a run of bad luck.

The words carry conviction. They also arrive after Tottenham exited a domestic cup to a Liverpool team missing ten of its first-choice players, with a goal that only counted as a landmark because it was their first against top-flight opposition all season. De Zerbi's belief in his squad's quality is not in question here; whether it can produce results before that belief runs out of patience is the thing Saturday's Premier League fixture will start to answer.

Iraola, by contrast, gets to build with the tailwind of a result that changed nothing about his approach and confirmed everything about his depth. Ten changes and a routine of pressing, quick transitions, and a midfielder capable of the kind of strike that ended the contest - that is a system working before it has even settled. Tottenham's version of progress, for now, is a single header and a manager's insistence that the performance was better than the outcome suggests.

Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: Sky Sports' original report.