Cartilage Free Captain

With the stakes raised even higher and the team needing to stop the rot from six consecutive Premier League defeats, Tottenham entered a place where they rarely earn anything…Anfield. But the side stayed resilient, and on the back of Richarlison’s hatred of Liverpool, the club got a well-deserved point in the dying minutes of the match for a 1-1 draw.

Skeptical about the match given all that has occurred at Tottenham, whether it’s the defeats in the league, a 5-2 embarrassment in the Champions League opening leg against Atletico Madrid, or the fact that 12 players are out again due to suspensions or injuries, the doubt coming into Anfield was high.

Playing a 3-5-3/4-4-2 setup with Djed Spence on the left and Souza on the right, Spurs had to fight off the early pressure from Liverpool as the home side forced Vicario and Dragusin to play balls deep to the front three instead of trying to play passing moves and move the ball up the pitch.

The match remained goalless through the first 17 minutes. The roar from the away end echoed the passion they brought to energize the team. Liverpool then won a soft foul in a dangerous free-kick area for Dominik Szoboszlai. Szoboszlai entered the match with three direct free kicks, and Spurs had allowed 11 goals from outside the box, a league high. The Hungarian hit his free kick to a relatively easy spot for Vicario to punch away. However, a poor first step and a hop to his right meant the Italian keeper barely got his hand on the ball. The ball ended up in the net, and Spurs were down 1-0.

Seeing the replay and knowing Vicario should have saved it, the players’ faces around the box showed frustration as it was another display of the team falling down early and needing to scrape it back to even have a chance.

Down 1-0 and barely having anything in the attacking half of the pitch, outside of Souza’s knuckle rip outside the box, Richarlison put the team on his back the rest of the match. Having chance after chance in the first half and the best being right before the half off a corner delivery from Mathys Tel, Richarlison’s down header had Alisson Becker reacting late to parry the shot away.

After an hour into the match, the game opened up with Liverpool sending on its big-time players and Spurs having the likes of Xavi Simons. Xavi joined the match quickly off a corner kick from the side, as his first touch was a volley attempt and his second touch a blocked shot.

Mentioning how close Richarlison was in the first half to leveling the match, the second half had him even closer as a leaping header from an insuring cross from Archie Gray narrowly missed his head. But, it was off a break where the Brazilian had his best chance. Getting the loose ball just outside the box and having Virgil van Dijk on his back, pulling his shoulder slightly, Richarlison took an off-balance shot that forced a save and had the striker appealing for a penalty that possibly could have been given if he had never gotten the shot off.

Either way, Spurs were close and deserving of a goal, and the side had to fight through the attacking storms Liverpool brought forth as Salah, Ekitike, Gakpo, and others all had chances to bury the game for good.

With the match still 1-0 and close to entering extra time, Spurs got the goal they rightfully deserved.

The emotions on the face of the Brazilian and the rest of side showed that they are ready to drag this club out of the relegation zone and into safety before the end of the season.

Nicking that point at the end to sit at 30 now, Spurs have a true six-pointer on the line next weekend when the side hosts Nottingham Forest. Before that match, Spurs will host Atletico Madrid for the second leg of the Round of 16 Champions League match (down 5-2 on aggregate).

Ah, Anfield. The graveyard of many a Tottenham Hotspur side. Just the kind of fixture you need when in a fight for Premier League survival while playing atrocious football and missing 13 players.

Saying things have gone from bad to worse for Spurs in the second half of the season would be a severe understatement; from catastrophic to cataclysmic might be more apt. Interim manager Igor Tudor has been unable to wrangle a single point while in charge of Spurs, and that’s something that is unlikely to change as an even more weakened Spurs head to Liverpool with Tudor all but a lame duck at this point. At this point, you wouldn’t be surprised if somebody in white bicycle-kicked the ball into their own goal.

Oh come on, that can’t be enough for a commentator’s curse.

Do I have any hope for this fixture? Not really. The little I may have had died with Antonin Kinsky’s career and Joao Palhinha and Cristian Romero’s brain cells as they concussed one another in midweek; but Wolverhampton Wanderers took Liverpool down a couple weeks back. Wolves.

Could Spurs do the same?

COYS, because why not?

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Anfield, Liverpool, UK

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Time: 12:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. UK

TV: Not televised in USA, Sky Sports Premier League (UK). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: Peacock

Match thread rules

The match thread rules are the same as always. To any visitors coming here for the first time, welcome! We’re glad you’re here! Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. While you’re here, though, we have a few rules and regulations:

Absolutely no links to illegal streams. They’re bad and they get us in trouble. Violators will be warned or banned.

We have rules against “relentless negativity.” Nobody likes a Negative Nancy. Don’t knee-jerk and post outlandish or hurtful things just because you’re frustrated.

Along those lines, outright abuse of players or match officials is also not allowed. It’s fine to say “wow, that was a really bad call,” but it’s NOT okay to direct copious amounts of abuse in the direction of said official over a call you did not like.

Treat other people in the match thread the way you would want someone else to treat your grandmother. Be nice. This is a community of fans, not an un-moderated message board.

NO SPIDERS!

Finally, while we don’t have a rule against profanity, please try and keep the naughty words in check. Also, language that is sexist, racist, transphobic, or homophobic in nature will be swiftly deleted and you will be immediately banned. This is an open, supportive community.

Have fun, and COYS!

Igor Tudor hasn’t exactly set the world alight in his short stint as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur; in fact, quite the opposite. Spurs are yet to earn a single point under his leadership, while conceding 14 across those four matches. To continue the burning metaphors, Tudor’s reign has been an absolute dumpster fire.

Which is why Spurs’ top brass are looking at alternatives, as David Orstein of The Athletic has the latest:

Well, duh.

The piece is remarkably light on detail for an Orstein article, but is essentially summarized in the tweet: Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange are actively searching for a replacement for Igor Tudor in the case that they opt to change tack once more in an effort to avoid a relegation that in many ways feels all but assured.

The oddity in the piece (which came out yesterday) is this specific part:

…Spurs are contingency planning for the event of bringing Tudor’s reign to an end following the Anfield trip.

My question in response to this is: why wait?

Though the piece is light on detail, reading between the lines it reeks of desperation and indecision from Spurs’ leadership. If you think Tudor is not the guy to help Spurs stave off relegation, will a trip to Anfield change that? If it is changing your thinking, then why? And if you think he indeed isn’t the guy, why then leave him in charge when the mentality and performance levels in the squad are at an all-time low under Tudor?

It’s the latest in a litany of missteps from Vinai and Lange, with the lack of leadership clear for all to see. There was a huge amount of indecision around Frank’s position, with a clear lack of identity as Spurs tumbled down the Premier League table not enough for them to pull the plug, instead waiting until Frank’s position was worse than untenable; there was the lack of movement in the January window after selling Spurs’ top scorer from the previous season, not replacing Brennan Johnson even after losing Mohammed Kudus for around three months (great work not panicking Johan); and then there was the appointment of Tudor, somebody who plays almost exclusively a system Spurs do not have the personnel for and who has no experience in the English top flight.

And that’s without even mentioning the squad Lange has constructed.

Vinai appears to know he’s in the hot seat as well, launching a press offensive via a piece in The Telegraph and in interactions with the Fan Advisory Board as he heaped blame upon previous Chief Executive Daniel Levy for running the club into the ground. The sacking of Tudor would be admitting yet another mistake, while keeping him in place could ensure relegation with Vinai at the rudder. He and Lange have engineered themselves into an indefensible position.

As to the replacements, there still seems to be a lack of clarity as to the potential options. Some (very unreliable) outlets have mentioned in recent days that Spurs have kicked the tires on Sean Dyche, while also mentioning he is not interested in another firefighting interim stint; Ryan Mason is always there as an option, with his spell in charge of West Bromwich Albion perhaps unfairly critiqued as they have torpedoed in form following his exit; and Harry Redknapp has hilariously put himself out there in the media as Spurs’ potential savior.

Fabrizio Romano, however, has said that Spurs’ preferred option is Roberto De Zerbi… and honestly, I think that would break me. Though the Italian manager is a decent coach and tactician, his particular brand of “intensity” is not what this squad needs right now; rather, they need something more akin to a therapist (or perhaps an exorcist). His temperamental nature is not the calming influence Spurs need in the midst of a fight for survival, and that’s without going into all the other red flags when it comes to De Zerbi which have been mentioned elsewhere on this site previously.

All in all, it seems like Tudor’s days are numbered. The only question now seems to be when… and who.

“No, no, no, [Palhinha and Romero] are out. Micky is also out, Bissouma is out, for the muscles. Conor has some fever but probably will be in. So, we have again a lot of problems to make first 11. This is how it is in this club. this happen all the time. We start to build something, then happens something, or a red card, or last game, or three or four injuries.

“This is very rare that happens in my career. I never see these situations. Every game, missing two players. The next game and a red card. It’s very rare, very unusual, but we need to accept this. And try to change the things you can change. On these things you cannot do nothing.”

“Tough, for sure. Not just because of last game, but because of the period and the past. Not easy situation, not an easy moment and from other side a big challenge to change things. Like everything in life, you can choose how to see the situation. So, you can stay and cry or you can fight. You can be the victim or you can say I can change something. This is the message I want to start and what I told to the players.

“Everyone speaking, everyone has opinions and the life is always how you see it. The bottle is always half empty or half full. Here there is nothing full, there is a lot of empty things but difficult moments don’t last forever. It will pass and I believe the players who will take this as a challenge, as an opportunity will stand up with the courage to change things, after this period they will become better people and better players.

“So, in tough moments it’s always about that, it’s always about us. In the last period, a lot of things about what is the club, the problems, no one can do nothing and this like victim-ism, like we were victims. I said this morning to the players totally opposition things. We are the team and we are the staff. It’s all about us. All the bullsh**, all the other things are bullsh** and sorry to use this word, but it’s on us.

“You know, I do every day this work. Psychology work. It is important also to give the courage to the team-mates. Some of them they cannot manage, for sure. Somewhere you arrive and you can help them. My goal is to find if I can help to do 18 players out of 20, 15? I don’t know how much? Sometimes you cannot do anything, but most of the time you can do even small changes. Small help, you know, you can do it, but also it’s what I always like to say to the players, don’t be a victim. Don’t think it’s not about me. You know that can be the problem more than all these things about Tottenham and club, you know, like magic on the club, like bad black magic and this other bullsh**, you know. So this is about what I want to send a message.

“… Everyone is disappointed. This is for sure. The players care. If you don’t care, you don’t struggle. Then you are not in the lack of confidence if you don’t care. You care and then it happens that maybe some situations there is a lack of confidence in situations on the pitch that usually don’t happen. That can also be an explanation.”

“So I can explain that situation, what was the idea. The idea was to make [Kinsky] play, because first of all, he’s a good goalkeeper, and seeing the situation and the moment we are, for a long period, to give some freshness on the ball, even in a different competition. So it was the idea at the start, but not after what happened, you think it was the right thing to do.

“Before, it was the right thing to do. Then what happened happened, then of course it’s a little bit different.

“Of course he will play [again this season] for sure. He came back the day after and was very good in training. Positive. Nothing else. So this situation happened, very rare, probably the first and last time in my life and the life of a lot of people but this can happen. It is the same message I said before. You can go out from the situation as a victim. ‘Poor me what happened.’ Everybody sending a message of help and I am with you. This is nice also.

“Sometimes 2025 this social media life became like it is more important what you say than what you do. But as I said before, this is normal, this is a mistake that will happen. For sure in his career there will be other mistakes but he has a strength and quality and in front of him is a very good career.”

I know right now it feels like everything is just a never-ending parade of suck when it comes to Tottenham Hotspur, what with the relegation battle and six match losing streak and no wins in calendar year 2026. Things are bad, fam.

So it’s important to take joy and pleasure in the good things when they happen. Like today — Dominic Solanke has won the Premier League Goal of the Month award for his incredible scorpion kick goal in the 2-2 draw against Manchester City in February.

Don’t remember it? Yeah, I don’t blame you. But here’s the video if you want to refresh your memory.

This is just a friendly reminder for everyone to get out of the doom spiral. Good things can (and will) happen to Tottenham Hotspur, and this is evidence of that. What a goal. A well-deserved win for Big Dom. Hopefully he can recreate that en route to the unlikeliest of wins this Sunday at Anfield.

The Igor Tudor experiment has failed. Zero points through three matches is just not acceptable, and nothing is any better than it was with Thomas Frank. While the Champions League was neither his nor the club’s priority, another horrific showing on Tuesday fully cemented that his hiring was doomed from the start and was not going to provide any relief.

There are only nine matches left to save the season, and suddenly just a single point separates Spurs and 18th place. It is unlikely that any manager in charge is going to get this club to beat Liverpool, but this contest does provide a chance to execute yet another sacking. Maybe Tudor gets another week with an international break coming up soon, but this weekend could easily be his end.

Match Details

Date: Sunday, March 15

Time: 12:30 pm ET, 4:30 pm UK

Location: Anfield, Liverpool

TV: Peacock/NBCSN (US), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)

Table: Liverpool (t-5th, 48 pts), Spurs (t-16th, 29 pts)

December brought Tottenham’s fourth-straight loss to Liverpool in the league, with the defeat in the League Cup Semis last year still in mind as well. It was 0-0 at halftime despite a Xavi Simons red card, but the visitors scored twice in the first 20 minutes before Richarlison pulled one back late. That defeat was better than the 6-3 and 5-1 losses last year at least?

Two Things to Watch

Focus

It might not seem to matter, as Spurs have been feeling the pressure in the league for quite some time with no positive results to show for it, but there is a stark difference in prioritization in this one. With the gap essentially gone above the relegation spots, maybe the players will finally wake up and realize that this is a very real possibility if the ship is not turned around immediately.

Meanwhile, Liverpool is well out of the Premier League race but has a good chance at finishing top five. That likely turns the attention to the Champions League (with work needed to be done next week against Galatasaray) and the FA Cup (a date with City in the Quarters awaits next month). There is no need to punt Sunday’s contest, but this is not the biggest event left on the fixture list.

This difference between the sides in mentality and prioritization is unlikely to swing the balance enough, but Tottenham could use any sort of help it can get. Liverpool did just lose to Wolves a week and a half ago, and this side is clearly flawed. Still, Spurs rarely even sneak a point out of this fixture, so all of this feels a little funny to write.

Whose fault is it anyway?

With multiple managers having failed now, the fate of this club returns to the players. Though the injury list remains as long as the available selections, and Micky van de Ven swaps spots with Cristian Romero on the suspension list, the remaining players simply must perform at a higher level, full stop. It is inexcusable to witness terrible performance after terrible performance, but here we are.

It would seem reasonable to expect younger options like Archie Gray and Souza, but even Simons, Pape Sarr, and Mathys Tel, be the ones to really exert themselves and put their best foot forward. This is their clearest chance for playing time, and if their veteran colleagues will not demonstrate excellence, any manager in charge is going to value their youthful exuberance.

This alone is not enough to earn sufficient points, though, so some of the heavy hitters will need to quickly find their form. With Randal Kolo Muani clearly not the answer and Dominic Solanke hot and cold, Richarlison is a good candidate to be the missing piece. He will certainly take things personally against Liverpool, and just maybe this is the match that springboards both him and Spurs into safer heights.

If Tottenham Hotspur decide to make another managerial change, it won’t be ENIC or the Lewis Kids who decide. That’s the latest report from the BBC’s Sami Mockbel, who writes in the BBC that Spurs are hinting that Igor Tudor’s days could be numbered, but that the final decision will be made by CEO Vinai Venkatesham and Sporting Director Johan Lange, not the Executive Board.

On the one hand, this is evidence of a good decision-making process and a modern football club structure. You usually don’t want the board or the owners stepping in to make decisions like this, as football club owners (non-Marinakis Division) generally are loathe to micromanage the clubs they own — that’s why they appoint Sporting Directors and CEOS!

On the other hand, Venkatesham and Lange are the two most responsible for sacking Thomas Frank so late and appointing Igor Tudor to save the club from relegation, a decision that thus far has not worked at all. Tudor, who had a reputation of being a reclamation specialist, has gone 0-4 while in charge and has made several veiled remarks about how this particular salvage operation has been a lot more difficult than he expected. There’s also unsourced background info unearthed by Mockbel that suggests the Spurs players have not (at all) taken to Tudor nor his methods, and have been left confused and frustrated by his tactics and approach. Letting the decision fall to the two people perhaps most responsible for Spurs being in this mess to begin with doesn’t feel especially great either, especially considering how long it took for the club hierarchy to come to grips with the fact that things weren’t working at all under Thomas Frank.

Tudor is expected to take the press conference ahead of the trip to Anfield to play Liverpool this weekend, which isn’t a particular surprise. One would suggest he’s also likely to be in charge for the return leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next week, a fixture that finds Spurs down three goals on aggregate after the 5-2 defeat at the Wanda on Tuesday.

Considering Spurs haven’t won at Anfield since 2012, that raises the distinct possibility that Tottenham could go 0-6 under Tudor, continuing their worst outright losing streak in the Premier League era. Spurs have yet to win a match in 2026.

If Spurs DO make a change, there’s a new suggestion that they could turn to a familiar face in the Premier League. Miguel Delaney, writing in the Telegraph, says he has been told Spurs have made initial contact with Sean Dyche’s camp about taking over for Tudor should a change be deemed necessary, though this appears to be extremely thinly sourced — Delaney uses words like “being considered” and “said to have contacted” in his article, and also admits near the end that Dyche would be reluctant to take on a short term role with no guarantee past the end of the season.

That seems to be a moot point anyway, at least for the next week or so. Keep your powder dry and let’s pray for a miracle.

We’re only a few days away from the beginning of the Major League Baseball season, which means it’s time for many of the teams to one-up each other in creating some of the most gut-busting concessions you can find in America’s (and two of Canada’s) ballparks.

This is also the sport that sells nachos by the helmet.

The Seattle Mariners will likely be the winners for most outrageous food offerings for 2026. Not necessarily because of the food, but because of the container in which it’ll be served.

The M’s announced that, in honour of the 75th anniversary of the Washington State Ferries System and 50th season of the Mariners, T-Mobile Park will offer a souvenir ferry food boat for the 2026 season.

Here it is in all its glory:

It’s beautiful.

The ferry features dipping sauce stations on its hull and stern (that means front and back in boating terms), bus space at the top for the main meal.

There are seven options you can order with this ferry container:

Crab nachos

A ‘dockside douple dip’ that has chips, beer cheese crab dip and artichoke crab dip

Crab fries or old bay fries

Chicken tenders and fries

Regular fries or garlic fries

More fries, this time shoestring

Fish and chips, a classic.

If that isn’t good enough for you, then you could order some sushi (I’d avoid this), a chocolate moues moose (soft serve in a cone or helmet with moose cookies), or you can try their new churro flavours (or just have the original).

Fitzie’s track of the day: Promontory Rider, by the Jerry Garcia Band

And now for your links:

Matt Law: “Tottenham Hotspur players have no faith in Igor Tudor to halt tailspin”

Alasdair Gold: “The ridiculous Igor Tudor problem Tottenham face and the strange Cristian Romero moment”

The Athletic ($$): “A goalkeeper’s view on Kinsky’s 17-minute horror show: The shock, the betrayal and the scars it will leave”

The Standard: “Igor Tudor is out of his depth - Tottenham must sack him before it’s too late”

CBS Sports: “Tottenham have become the team you can’t look away from as downward spiral continues with UCL blowout loss”

“[It’s] terrible, to be honest, a doomsday scenario. Everything that could go wrong in the first twenty minutes went wrong. Everyone slips, including me. Those are moments you simply can’t do anything about. I can’t just stand here and start blaming the pitch. It’s terrible for [Kinsky] too, he’s making his debut. You wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

“Yeah, it’s really hard to say. I could give the standard speech here that we all need to stick together and work hard, but we’re just getting blow after blow after blow right now. So it’s really difficult. And this weekend we also play an important match where I can’t be there myself because I’m suspended. So yeah… it’s a terrible period, I can tell you that. It’s really, really awful.

“We have an important match this weekend that I can’t be at, because I’m suspended, of course. But it’s a truly terrible time. How am I feeling mentally? It’s tough, I can tell you. Really tough. So like I said, I just have to keep going. It’s part of it — part of life. And we’ll see what happens. I’m not on my phone anymore; I’m completely done with it. Only family and stuff.“

Welcome to another edition of Trending Up / Trending Down, where hoddle headquarters takes a look at all things trending up and down around Tottenham Hotspur.

——

The last time I did this it felt like things couldn’t get worse. Thomas Frank was on his way out, Spurs were flirting with a relegation battle and the mood surrounding the club had fallen off a cliff.

Here we are now, about a month-and-a-half later, and things might actually be worse (or at the very least, the same). Igor Tudor’s job is in jeopardy, relegation seems like a serious possibility, and the mood surrounding the club is wretched.

So now, with that in mind, let’s take a look at who (or what) is trending up, and what’s trending down.

Trending Up:

Nothing is trending up at Tottenham Hotspur. Nothing.

Trending Down:

Antonin Kinsky: A humiliating performance in his Champions League debut, in which he slipped twice within a span of 10 minutes to concede two goals, has effectively destroyed his future at the club. Not only that but it likely puts a serious dent into any major ambitions for now of joining a club of a similar stature in the future. And it’s way too soon to say if this is something he will be able to mentally recover from after being pulled within 17 minutes.

Igor Tudor: Four games, four defeats. All but one by miserable margins. A 1-4 defeat to Arsenal, a 2-1 defeat to Fulham, a 1-3 defeat to Palace and now the 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid. That’s 14 goals conceded in four games with five scored. The players look even more lost on the pitch and have no mettle in them to claw back from the slightest bit of adversity. They look a heck of a lot worse under Tudor, who was brought in to bring instant stability to a club that was fending off relegation. Instead they’re now in a full-on freefall into the drop zone. His brutal management of Kinsky - in which he didn’t even acknowledge the player after yanking him - was shocking. This is one of the worst decisions the club has made (and they’ve made a lot of bad ones). He needs to go before it’s too late.

Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham: Of course, a significant share of blame must squarely fall on the two men leading the boardroom decisions. From doing almost no work in the January window, to holding onto Thomas Frank for too long and then bringing in a manager who is - at best - incompatible with this club, Lange and Venkatesham have carved out a special place in Tottenham ignominy. There seems to be no plan for where this club is headed, or what will happen if the once unthinkable happens. Should relegation happen, the consequences must manifest in at least one of these men’s dismissal.

Micky van de Ven: Kinsky’s errors should not cover up van de Ven’s own woeful performance on Tuesday, where he was responsible for the second goal because of a slip of his own. It wasn’t as if van de Ven was coming into that match with a great deal of form anyways. Don’t forget he got himself sent off during that loss embarrassing loss to Palace and is now out of contention for Liverpool this weekend.

Cristian Romero: The Spurs captain had served his four-match ban for a red card he received against Man United in February. After a clash of heads with Joao Palhinha on Tuesday, he’s now a doubt for Sunday’s fixture as well. Oh, and there’s also a Matt Law report out there that Romero could leave the club this summer.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Bandoleros, by Mariachi El Bronx

And now for your links:

The Independent: “Tottenham lose their balance, the ball and all remaining dignity in abject defeat to Atletico”

The Athletic ($$): “What should Tottenham do about Igor Tudor? We asked five of our writers”

Alasdair Gold: “Every word Igor Tudor said on taking off Antonin Kinsky, his Tottenham future and Romero fears”

The Telegraph: “Igor Tudor’s position untenable as Tottenham humiliated”