Garth Crooks suggests Tottenham pair Sanchez and Dier got stage fright

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Tottenham Hotspur’s most recent Premier League clash ended in a 2-2 draw.

Garth Crooks has told BBC Sport that Tottenham appeared to suffer from stage fright during their Premier League clash with Liverpool, with Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez the two players who seemed to struggle the most.

Spurs secured a point at Anfield in an exhilarating game that saw Mauricio Pochettino’s men come from behind twice to bag the draw. Victor Wanyama’s stunner 10 minutes from time cancelled out Mohamed Salah’s third minute goal, but Salah struck again at the start of stoppage-time.

Harry Kane – who had missed an earlier penalty – scored his second spot-kick in the dying seconds to bag the draw that Spurs surely deserved. But while Tottenham did deserve at least a point, Crooks was not convinced by all of the visiting squad.

“Spurs paid the price from a shocking bout of stage fright, especially from Davinson Sanchez, who had never played at Anfield before, and Eric Dier, who had,” he told BBC Sport.

“Spurs did recover after a very difficult first half. Nevertheless, they can count themselves extremely fortunate to have had Jon Moss, the best referee in the Premier League, on hand.”

What will give Pochettino a lot of confidence is the fact that Spurs were not quite at their best, yet they have managed to maintain their recent unbeaten run – against the team that ended Manchester City’s hopes of going through the domestic season unbeaten.

With the North London derby coming up after their FA Cup replay with Newport County, Spurs can take a lot of belief from the fact that they have taken four points from their last two games, which saw them come up against two of the division’s top three.

But perhaps the performances of one or two of the players at Anfield will just give Pochettino something to think about heading into next weekend when their rivals visit Wembley.