Martin Jol must be wondering on the lasting effects of the lasagne that affected his team’s performance on the last day of the season at Upton Park. His side have managed only four points from six games so far this season, seeing Tottenham sit just above the relegation zone, a far cry from twelve months ago when they topped the table for a while.

In a quiet Anfield Tottenham started well and managed to hold their hosts to a goalless first half, despite the chances that both sides had on goal. The turning point of the fixture came as Edgar Davids broke down the left flank and squared the ball past Jose Reina giving Jermaine Jenas an empty net to stroke the ball into, Jol must have thought he had made the perfect move introducing Davids just a few minutes previously. However his joy was short lived as Jenas missed the goal, even more spectacularly than his miss against his old club Newcastle United last season. Liverpool were to suffer the same indignity from the resulting break however they had men in the box to capitalise on Bellamy’s miss, Gonzales coolly slotted the ball into Robinson’s goal.

Ten minutes later Liverpool’s Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt sprung the Spurs off side trap and as the defence stood motionless he thumped the ball in to the Tottenham goal his first in front of the fans in the Kop.

The misery of the travelling fans was not yet over. On 89 minutes draft dodging John Arne Riise carried the ball and then struck home a hammer blow for Spurs who have to look toward beating Slavia Prague on Thursday to ensure their fans will have a cup run to look forward to.