Tottenham Hotspur suffered a crushing 6-3 defeat at home to Liverpool on Sunday.
James Maddisson reduced the deficit in the 41st minute after Luis Díaz and Alexis Mac Allister scored for Liverpool, but Dominik Szoboszlai’ goal helped the Reds to regain two-goal lead before the break.
Mohamed Salah’s second half brace saw Liverpool take a 5-1 lead before goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke [83rd minute] reduced the gap.
At that stage, the Sweden international felt Tottenham had a chance to make a comeback in this game, before Díaz scored Liverpool’s sixth goal in the 85th minute. He revealed this to Sportbladet after the tie.
“At 5-3, I said ‘we will do it’. It was so frustrating to see us concede a goal late, that the match was over. I really believed it, that something special could happen,” he said.
Spurs can bounce back from the painful defeat to Liverpool when they face Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day and the 24-year-old has sent a message to his teammates.
“We always try to rise. There are no excuses. Now we will celebrate Christmas with our families and then we’ll go to Nottingham, a good match against a good team,” Kulusevski explained.
Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are all injured while Rodrigo Bentancur is servicing his suspension. The former Juventus man claims Tottenham’s injury woes makes it difficult for rest of the squad.
“It’s incredibly demanding, what we do. Especially when everyone is injured. We have to play every game without any substitutions. Then you really have to take care of your body, otherwise you will break down,” he added.
Sportbladet ask the forward if this makes it ‘difficult’ for him to help the team.
“Yes, exactly. You grow with it, you feel that you are really needed, and I grow with it and love the task,” the Swede said.
Kulusevski scored five goals in a row for Ange Postecoglou’s side and on this, he said: “It is always important. What is it, five in a row? I’m still hungry and it felt good again today, so it’s just a matter of continuing on that path.”
