Lukas Bergvall’s late goal against Liverpool gave Tottenham Hotspur a huge chance to reach the UEFA Cup final. Ange Postecoglou’s side still need to go to Anfield for the second leg, but Bergvall’s finish in the home game gave them a lifeline.
In light of the current situation, Tottenham will face Newcastle United, who beat Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg, at Wembley Stadium. This will be an interesting final, as both teams are desperate for silverware. Newcastle has not won a major title since 1955, while Tottenham’s last win was the League Cup in 2008.
Below, we rate Tottenham’s players on a scale of 1 to 10.
Antonin Kinski (goalkeeper): 8
The goalkeeper only joined Tottenham last Sunday, but already has Postecoglou’s confidence. Kinski made a great save from Darwin Nunez’s shot and his passing was excellent. A clean sheet against Liverpool is a great start. With injuries to Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Foster, Kinski will have a big role to play for Spurs in attack.
Pedro Porro (right back): 7
He missed a great opportunity to give Liverpool the lead. However, he made up for it by playing with Dominic Solanke – who set up Bergvall’s winning goal.
Radu Dragocin (CB): 7
Dragosin was inconsistent at Spurs but performed well and made a brilliant goal-line clearance to deny Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Archie Gray (CB): 8
Gray mostly plays at right-back, but has recently been forced to fill in as a midfielder due to injury problems at Tottenham. Gray was key to Spurs keeping a clean sheet, but his passing was mixed.
Jade Spence (LB): 8
He was very good in possession, and also contributed to attacks without forgetting his defensive duties. Stopping Mohamed Salah from influencing the game is a great achievement.
Rodrigo Bentancur (CDM): Not applicable
He was discharged early after taking an awkward fall and having to be taken off on a stretcher. Tottenham It was later announced that “Rodrigo is conscious and talking and will go to the hospital for further tests.” Brennan Johnson was his replacement, which pushed Bergvall into a more defensive midfield role.
Yves Bissouma (cm): 7
He defended well and looked like a threat when he took the ball forward but was booked for a foul on Diogo Jota.
Lukas Bergvall (cm): 8
It fell again when Bentancur had to go down. However, Bergvall did not forget his attacking duties and eventually scored the winner. Bergvall was lucky to still be on the field to score, as he could have received a second yellow card for a foul on Kostas Tsimikas.
Dejan Kulusevski (RW): 7
He also played more defensively, with Johnson taking up a position on the right wing when he came on. Therefore, Kulusevski cannot be effective in an offensive sense. Tsimikas kept Johnson calm.
Dominic Solanke (ST): 8
He found the back of the net, but his goal was disallowed for offside. This did not stop Solanke from moving forward as he continued to help Bergvall to victory.
Heung-Min Son (LW): 7
Son put in a solid performance and made some dangerous passes. He was replaced by Timo Werner, whose pace also caused problems for Liverpool.