A late Lewis Koumas goal was mere consolation as Liverpool were well beaten in their U18 Premier League Cup opener at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Koumas, who netted four times on the opening weekend of the season against Middlesbrough, struck four minutes from time as the young Reds went down 3-1 against the Londoners at the Academy in Kirkby on Saturday.
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's side now face a tough task to qualify from the group with games at Charlton Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers to come.
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The damage was done either side of half-time when Tottenham striker Jaden Williams scored a hat-trick. His first came five minutes before the break when he shot low into the corner after good footwork.
His second arrived in first-half injury time when poaching from inside the area, with Williams' treble completed 10 minutes into the second half after he capitalised on Liverpool failing to clear a corner.
Liverpool are next in action on Wednesday when an under-19 side takes on Napoli in Italy in their UEFA Youth League opener (kick-off 1pm).
LIVERPOOL U18s (4-3-3): Hewitson; Gyimah, Pinnington, Miles, Osborne; Onanuga (Roberts 60), McConnell, Laffey (Danns 84); Kone-Doherty, Koumas, Young (Figueroa 84). Subs: Morana, Samuels.
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