That’s it for today’s live blog. I’ll leave you with Jacob Steinberg’s match report from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – goodnight!
Post-match interviews
Mo Salah
“I always try to have a good first touch, because it puts me in a better position [to score], and luckily I did that today. Hopefully this is a turning point. We don’t like losing but it’s football and we have to accept it. Hopefully this week will give us more confidence.”
Andy Robertson
“We knew if they went three at the back that Trent and I would have a lot of space, and it was up to us to capitalise on that. We got these boys up front on the ball, and they made the magic happen.
“It was a real professional performance in the second half – we dug in and defended excellently. We could have been better on the ball but they were always gonna be more in our faces, and we stood up to that. I thought the two centre-backs were unbelievable. First half we played well on the ball, second half we played well off the ball.”
“A bit frustrating, had the chances to at least draw the game,” says Yash Gupta. “Still in the top four and all competitions going to the World Cup. After that, more performances like the second halves this season and good things will happen.”
That was a game of two distinct 45-minute segments. Liverpool bossed the first half and won it 2-0; Spurs were even more dominant in the second half but could only win it 1-0.
All three goals were expertly taken – two for Mo Salah and one for Harry Kane. It’s a big win for Liverpool, especially after those defeats to Nottingham Forest and Leeds. They move up to eighth place, seven points behind fourth-placed Spurs with a game in hand.
Spurs have now lost three of their last four league games and four of the last seven. Do you see what happens, Larry, if you keep conceding the first goal?
Full time: Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool
It’s November 6, and Liverpool have finally won away from home in the Premier League.
90+3 min Lucas Moura appeals for a penalty, I’m not sure why. Play continues and Alisson punches away well under pressure from Kane. The ball drops towards Perisic, who crashes a difficult volley over the bar.
No penalty. Thiago took a risk by wafting a boot in the vicinity of Moura’s face but, as with Alexander-Arnold’s shove in the first half, you couldn’t say it was clear and obvious.
90+2 min Spurs have been fantastic in the second half. If they played like this for an hour they’d be dangerous, never mind 90 minutes.
Liverpool bring on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the (probable) matchwinner Mo Salah.
90+1 min Perisic’s corner is headed away well by Gomez. Spurs come again and Doherty’s header across the area is taken away from Bentancur by Jones. That was an important touch.
90 min Konate heads behind for another Spurs corner. There will be four minutes of added time.
89 min: Chance for Spurs! How did that stay out?! Perisic’s curling cross from the left was backheaded ingeniously by Kane, stooping away from goal, and the leaping Bentancur just failed to reach it at the far post. The ball swerved a yard or two wide of goal.
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88 min Kulusevski slips Thiago, as he did for the goal, and almost threads a pass through to Kane in the area. One of the Liverpool defenders stretched to intercept.
Lucas Moura is on for Yves Bissouma.
87 min Liverpool bring on Joe Gomez to replace Darwin Nunez, which presumably means a switch to 5-4-1.
86 min Kulusevski’s very deep cross – Spurs love those – is headed back by Perisic and cleared by a combination of Alexander-Arnold and Konate.
85 min Perisic’s cross is punched away by Alisson a split second before he is clattered by Doherty. Alisson goes down when the ball goes out of play, prompting a few boos from the Spurs fans. He’s okay to continue.
83 min Dier’s looping cross is headed towards goal by Bentancur, and Alisson falls to his right to make a comfortable save.
82 min Nunez hits the bar after a gorgeous disguised pass from Thiago, but he was fractionally offside so it wouldn’t have counted.
81 min Fabinho is fortunate not to give away a free-kick when he fouls Hojbjerg in the D. Liverpool are really struggling to get out.
79 min: Chance for Lenglet! The tireless Perisic runs Alexander-Arnold to win another corner for Spurs. He takes it himself, and Lenglet heads over the bar from six yards! He arrived late, got in front of Nunez but then couldn’t keep the header down.
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77 min Kulusevski and Doherty have been excellent since coming on. I’m surprised Doherty doesn’t play more ahead of Emerson Royal, especially after the way he finished last season. And Kulusevski is just a class act: so elegant, and superb in tight areas.
75 min Spurs appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty after a tangle of legs between Kane and Konate on the edge of the penalty area. If it was a foul – and you can argue that both ways – I’m pretty sure it was just outside the area.
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74 min Two changes for Liverpool. Curtis Jones and Jordan Henderson replace Roberto Firmino and Harvey Elliott.
72 min The atmosphere is spectacular, and Spurs are all over Liverpool.
71 min Antonio Conte has been booked after kicking off with one of the Liverpool backroom staff, Pep Lijnders I think.
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Spurs are back in it. Doherty fed a little pass into Kulusevski, just outside the area in the inside-right channel. He drew Thiago towards him, then shimmied away and poked a neat pass down the side of the defence towards Kane. He reached the ball just before Konate and stabbed a quite brilliant finish across Alisson.
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GOAL! Spurs 1-2 Liverpool (Kane 70)
Kulusevski makes a goal straight away!
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68 min A double change for Spurs. Matt Doherty replaces Emerson Royal, and there are huge cheers as Dejan Kulusevski comes on for Ryan Sessegnon. That means Perisic will move to left wing-back.
68 min What a clever effort from Kane. Perisic curled a free-kick from the left towards the near post, where Kane looped a header across goal from about 15 yards. It beat the flying Alisson and swerved just wide of the far psot.
65 min Liverpool keep the ball alive after a corner. Alexander-Arnold drives a brilliant flat pass over the head of Kane, but Salah can’t control it in mid-air. It wasn’t an easy ball to take; but had he done so, he would have been in for the hat-trick.
Since you asked re: England, it’s quite simple – use Alexander-Arnold exclusively as an impact sub if you are behind in a game. You’re welcome, Gareth.
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64 min Bentancur’s deep cross is taken away from Sessegnon by the backpedalling Kane. That was a much better chance for Sessegnon, and all Kane could do was head it towards the touchline after he jumped backwards.
63 min Thiago whistles a long-range drive wide of the near post. Lucas Moura is getting ready to come on for Spurs.
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61 min “Following the comments on replacing Conte, a reminder that before appointing Nuno, Spurs interviewed and rejected both Potter and Ten Hag!” says James Hopkin. “The frustration is that Conte has one formation and one way of playing, and slots the players he have into that formation. It’s always the same with Conte - if he fails it’s always because he hasn’t been given good enough players, not because he’s failed to make the most of what the club has.”
I can understand the complaints about style of play, even if I don’t necessarily agree with them. But surely he has overachieved - purely in terms of results – with every team he has managed? Okay, maybe not Arezzo (the first time). Or Atalanta.
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60 min Salah scurries through on goal and is about to shoot when Lenglet (I think) makes a vital last-ditch tackle. The flag went up after that but it looked very tight on the replay.
59 min And now Bentancur overhits a cross after being found in a good position on the right of the area.
58 min I’ve just realised that Liverpool have switched to 4-4-2, with Elliott and Nunez as the wingers and Salah and Firmino up front.
57 min Nunez cuts inside from the left, past Emerson Royal, but then scuffs his shot straight at Lloris from the edge of the area.
Spurs break but Emerson Royal wallops a cross out for a throw-in, prompting jeers and groans from the home fans.
55 min Alisson faffs around on the ball and is block tackled by Kane. The ball could have gone anywhere, but luckily for Liverpool it ran towards Konate. All of a sudden Liverpool look nervous at the back.
54 min Salah misses a decent chance to get his hat-trick, shooting tamely at Lloris from 14 yards after selfless play from Nunez.
53 min “Spurs would be insane to ditch Conte…” says Chris Walton. “Dragged them up the table and into the Champions League last 16. He’s a born winner.”
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52 min “Of all the things to call Nunez, Andy Carroll is pretty inaccurate,” says Niall Mullen. “I think you always knew the type of thing you’d get from big Andy. With Nunez I don’t know what he’s going to try: dribble past the defender like Suarez, try to batter one in like Lewandowski, run in behind like Salah, or fall over his own feet like me.”
51 min Kane lays tbe ball back to Sessegnon, who shapes a right-footed curler not far wide from the edge of thea rea.
51 min WHY DON’T THEY JUST START GAMES LIKE THIS?
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50 min Dier’s mishit cross almost sneaks in, with Alisson scrambling to push it behind for a corner. It’s all Spurs.
49 min: Perisic hits the bar! That’s the second time he’s hit the woodwork today. Dier’s curling cross from the right, intended for Perisic, ran across the area to Sessegnon on the far side. He laid it back first time to Perisic, who clipped an instant shot that beat Alisson and clattered off the bar.
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48 min Nunez clambers over Emerson Royal to head a bouncing ball behind for another Spurs corner. Perisic’s delivery is much better, an inswinger that is flicked across goal by the head of Dier. Alisson springs to his right to make a decent two-handed catch.
47 min “As an Arsenal fan, one of the most disappointing things about Spurs’ finish last season was it meant instead of Conte having one foot out the door he’d stay and bring in more players,” says Zach Neeley. “Do Spurs remember how their managerial search has gone since Poch left? If they’re going to do anything, it should be just bring him back. Sometimes the best choice is just swallow your pride and call your ex.”
46 min A fast start from Spurs, with Sessegnon’s volley hitting a defender and spinning behind for a corner. Perisic’s delivery is again poor.
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46 min Peep peep! Spurs begin the second half. No changes on either side.
“Conte is a bit intense but no one can do better with the players at Spurs,” says Jeff Sachs. “Tuchel is just more of the same intensity – will not change anything except the accent.”
I agree. We can’t, or at least shouldn’t, ignore the impact of the injuries to Son, Richarlison, Kulusevski and Lucas Moura.
“The more I see of Ibrahima Konate the more highly I think of him as a footballer,” says Kári Tulinius. “It may not be a systemic solution to the problem of having a very attacking fullback, but sticking a brilliant defender to the side of Alexander-Arnold might do the trick.”
Here’s Mo Salah’s goal
He’s hitting form at the imperfect time.
MO SALAH AT THE DOUBLE! ⭐
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 6, 2022
He capitalises on Eric Dier's mistake. pic.twitter.com/Dzsl2zxMqd
“If Conte is for the boot, what chance Spurs are lining up his handshaking nemesis and Chelsea successor Tuchel?” says Malcolm McAdam. “There’d be a certain sweet symmetry, not to mention revenge, for such a role reversal.”
And then Conte goes to Paris Saint-Germain and Mourinho takes over at Mainz?
Half-time reading
Half time: Spurs 0-2 Liverpool
Two expert finishes from Mo Salah have put Liverpool in control at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs’ injury list has caught up with them, and there were boos at the half-time whistle. They are heading for a third league defeat in four games and a fourth in seven, though we should remember that they came from 2-0 down to win last weekend.
44 min Elliott’s crisp long-range drive is pushed away by Lloris, diving to his left. It was a decent save because it bounced awkwardly in front of him.
44 min Thiago’s long-range shot is well blocked by Kane, whose internal monologue must be a riot right now.
43 min “Luis Garcia used to be the best player in the history of football for ten minutes out of every 90, and an absolute liability for the other 80,” purrs Matt Dony. “The trade-off was worth it, because he did some wonderful things during those ten-minute spells. All wispy and elegant and skilful. Nunez is almost like that, but in Andy Carroll’s body. I love him already, but I can tell it’s not always going to be easy…”
42 min Lloris’s clearance hits Firmino and rebounds to safety. That could easily have flown into the net.
Alisson lumped the ball straight downfield towards Dier, who tried to nod it back to Lloris. It was a dreadfully mistimed header, well short of the keeper, and Salah was onto it in a flash. He kneed the ball into the space and flipped it deliciously over Lloris. That was ice cold.
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GOAL! Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool (Salah 40)
Mo Salah gets his second after a mistake from Eric Dier!
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39 min There’s a break in play while Harvey Elliott receives treatment.
If it stays like this Liverpool will move up to eighth, eight points behind fourth-placed Spurs with a game in hand.
38 min This is a decent spell for Liverpool, probably their best since Salah’s goal. The full-backs have been very good going forward today.
36 min Firmino’s shot from the left edge of the area is blocked by Emerson Royal.
35 min Perisic’s free-kick is unusually rubbish and Elliott heads clear at the near post.
34 min A flustered Alexander-Arnold, who had just been beaten by Perisic and rescued by Konate, shoves Sessegnon over on the left wing.
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34 min Alexander-Arnold plays another superb crossfield pass to Nunez, who is one vy one with Dier. His touch is heavy, however, and that allows Dier to poke the ball away.
33 min “Spurs could do with Kane being on the end of Kane’s crosses...” says Sam Huscroft.
Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich.
32 min A poor header from Emerson Royal goes straight to Thiago, whose stinging strike from 25 yards is blocked by Dier (I think).
31 min Alisson comes from his area to beat Sessegnon to Kane’s long pass. It’s a pretty good game now, with Kane looking menacing when he drops deep. But he really misses the runs of Son Heung-min.
Small business owners. Change your company name to "The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium" and instantly acquire a multimillion global naming rights deal free of charge
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) November 6, 2022
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: for all your tablecloth needs.
27 min A good cross from Kane just evades Perisic, who was well tracked by Alexander-Arnold.
26 min There are a few grumbles from the home fans as Spurs pass the ball around at the back. Then Dier suddenly pings a crossfield pass to Sessegnon, who controls the ball and beats Alexander-Arnold in the same movement. Konate comes across to make a good interception.
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23 min “I get slightly teary at every mention of Andy Robertson on the MBM,” says Simon McMahon, “and also (but to a lesser extent) Kieran Tierney, who featured heavily in the early game despite not starting. God knows what I’ll be like should either of them ever do Strictly…”
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21 min The match has been a lot more even since Salah’s goal. Human nature is a funny old game.
19 min Spurs appeal for a penalty when Alexander-Arnold leans into Sessegnon. Andy Madley isn’t interested, and a few Spurs players give him a mouthful. It was a needless and risky challenge from Alexander-Arnold, especially as Sessegnon was going nowhere, and some referees would have given it. But it wasn’t a clear and obvious error.
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18 min “Liverpool have been unique in Europe this season - they have been the only team to beat Newcastle, Man C and Napoli,” says Admir Pajic. “There is still a bite in that old lion, even if the lion’s roar is louder at his own den.
“As for Spurs, whilst they’ve been living on pure brilliance of their forwards for quite a while, it’s interesting to notice none of five goals they scored in their last two dramatic injury-time-come-back-victories were scored by any of those forwards. Maybe there is life in Spurs’ midfield after all.”
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15 min: Perisic hits the post! Spurs almost equalise out of nothing. Kane crossed from the right towards Perisic, whose near-post header hit the outrushing Alisson on the shoulder (I think) and deflected onto the post. Moments later he made a slightly more comfortable save, this time from Hojbjerg’s low 25-yarder.
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15 min “Nunez has welcome energy, but watch Mo,” says Rick McGahey. “He takes the ball, sets it up and strikes it before it hits the ground from his first touch. What composure and skill.”
Mo Salah finishes in STYLE! Simply brilliant 👏 pic.twitter.com/wry9oCePBL
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 6, 2022
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14 min Alexander-Arnold whips a delicious ball into Salah on the edge of the area. He controls it well but then slides a pass behind Firmino. It is all Liverpool.
13 min That’s the 12th time this season that Spurs have conceded the first goal.
It started with Robertson, who is running the game from left-back. He fired a cross into Nunez, who controlled it on the stretch and laid it off carefully to Salah, 12 yards out. He stunned the ball a couple of yards off the ground and twisted to ping a volley from Lloris. That’s an excellent goal.
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GOAL! Spurs 0-1 Liverpool (Salah 11)
It’s been coming.
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11 min Give me a second, I just need to do Wordle.
10 min Spurs have barely had the ball in the first 10 minutes. If you offered Antonio Conte 0-0 after an hour, when he might be able to bring on Moura and Kulusevski, he’d kiss you with gratitude.
8 min “Although I like Liverpool (Elliot and Carvalho, natch),” says Richard Hirst, “I’d quite like Spurs to win simply for the unbelievableness of Fulham being above Liverpool so far into the season. (And Spurs do have Sessegnon.)”
6 min Whatever his imperfections, Darwin Nunez is irrepressible. He receives a glorious crossfield pass from Alexander-Arnold, runs across the line of the area and curls a few yards wide of the far post.
I know he’s raw and there’s bantz galore, but Nunez’s attitude is pretty wonderful. He reminds me a bit, for richer and poorer, of Timo Werner at Chelsea.
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5 min The two faces of Darwin Nunez. He makes another purposeful run down the left to receive a long pass from Robertson. Then he moves into the area, teases Dier… and runs the ball out of play.
4 min Perisic is playing right up front for Spurs, alongside Harry Kane. Liverpool’s formation is pretty fluid, though I think it’s essentially a diamond midfield with Nunez and Salah as split strikers.
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3 min: Good save from Lloris! Life is never dull when Darwin Nunez is around. He charges into the area from the left, onto a fine curving pass from Robertson, then runs round the bouncing ball and lashes a shot from a tight angle that is pushed away spectacularly by Lloris. It was a comfortable enough save for a keeper of his quality, but a really good effort from Nunez.
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2 min “I’m a long-time Spurs enthusiast, but still unsure if I love Conte or am frustrated by him,” says Jeff. “Possibly both. “Am I right in thinking he’s set up Spurs 6-3-1, potentially affording Alexander-Arnold and Robertson just a little too much respect?”
Not quite – it’s 5-3-2 (or 3-5-2 if you prefer). He doesn’t have many opptions because Son, Richarlison, Kulusevski and Moura are all either injured or unable to play 90 minutes.
1 min Peep peep! Liverpool, specifically Harvey Elliott, kick off from left to right as we watch.
Right, here come the players. Let’s get it on.
West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace
John Brewin was at the London Stadium to watch Crystal Palace do an away win.
“Liverpool have outplayed Man City, and beaten a Napoli side who are flying this season,” says Matt Dony. “And they’ve lost to Forest and Leeds. This kind of inconsistency is obviously frustrating, but it’s doubly worrying when coming up against an equally flaky team. Spurs can be great, and they can be appalling. (But never entertaining, amirite, Antonio?) Counter-intuitively, the better Spurs play, I think the better chance Liverpool have. Who knows any more!”
Southampton 1-4 Newcastle
Sam Dalling was at St Mary’s to see Newcastle empathise with Southampton. Here’s his report.
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“Newcastle had an empathic win, did they?” says Peter Dawes. “Arm-round-the-shoulder kinda thing? ‘We understand how you feel, we have often felt the same way ourselves y’know.’”
It’s my favourite typo since I criticised a cricketer for playing a useless cut stroke in 2010.
Aston Villa 3-1 Man Utd
Ben Fisher was at Villa Park to watch Unai Emery get off to a flying start.
“Four top forwards, one week into November and only Kane is starting,” says Yash Gupta. “Moura feeling pain as well. Still a good lineup to get a win and Gil is on the bench to bring chaos. Hopefully both teams make this a wild game like last season, starting with an own goal from both teams making defending an afterthought.”
If this ends 0-0, I’ll eat my cliche.
There were three 2pm games, and this is how they finished.
Aston Villa 3-1 Man Utd
Southampton 1-4 Newcastle
West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace
We’ll have full match reports shortly. Newcastle’s empathic win moves them above Spurs into third place, though Spurs will leapfrog them if they win.
Harvey Elliott was given a rest in midweek but he’s back today, living life to the max.
Style v substance
Team news
Two changes for Spurs fron the midweek win in France. Emerson Royal and Yves Bissouma replace Lucas Moura and the injured Son Heung-min. It looks like Ivan Perisic will play just behind Harry Kane. Dejan Kulusevski, who hasn’t played since September, is on the bench.
For Liverpool, Andy Robertson, Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez come into the side, with Kostas Tsimikas, James Milner and Curtis Jones dropping out.
Tottenham Hotspur (possible 3-5-1-1) Lloris; Dier, Lenglet, Davies; Emerson Royal, Bentancur, Bissouma, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon; Perisic; Kane.
Substitutes: Forster, Doherty, Sanchez, Tanganga, Sarr, Skipp, Kulusevski, Gil, Lucas Moura.
Liverpool (possible 4-D-2) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho; Elliott, Thiago; Firmino; Salah, Nunez.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Gomez, Tsimikas, Ramsay, Bajcetic, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Carvalho.
Referee Andy Madley.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool from the WHERE IS THAT BLOODY SPONSOR YOU’VE HAD THREE YEARS NOW IF THIS ISN’T THE ASK JEEVES STADIUM BY NEXT WEEKEND I’LL STICK MY BOOT RIGHT UP YOUR BOTTOM LINE Stadium. The good news for Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp is that only one team can concede the first goal. Both have specialised in going 1-0 down this season: Spurs 11 times, Liverpool 10. They have recovered to win a few of them (Spurs 5, Liverpool 2), but it’s not a sustainable or desirable business model.
Spurs had a difficult October, with three league defeats and growing criticism of Antonio Conte’s preferred cloth-cutting methods, but they remain in contention for all the major prizes. Be careful what you wish for and all that: this time last year Spurs were tenth in the league and playing in the Europa Conference League.
Liverpool have gone in the opposite direction, from chasing a quadruple to hoping for a top-four finish. They still haven’t won away from home in the league this season, a barely believable statistic, and are closer to 20th place than to fourth.
A team who were once remorselessly consistent have become wildly unpredictable – capable of winning 9-0 and 7-1 but also losing to the bottom team in consecutive matches. For us neutrals, that makes this game even more exciting.
Kick off 4.30pm.
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