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Tottenham vs Liverpool LIVE SCORE: Bentancur carried off pitch after medical treatment and seven-minute delay – latest
RODRIGO BENTANCUR had to receive lengthy medical treatment on the pitch before he was carried off on a stretcher.
The Tottenham midfielder appeared to slam into the turf after going for a header at a corner, with his arm also bending the wrong way as he landed.
After treatment by medics inside the Liverpool box, which included receiving oxygen, Bentancur was carried off the pitch after a worrying seven-minute delay - there have been no updates on his condition as yet.
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has been dropped for the against Tottenham in the first leg of their massive Carabao Cup semi-final, while Ange Postecoglu has thrown new keeper Antonin Kinsky straight into the mix.
Kick off time: 8pm
TV channel: Sky Sports Football / Main Event
Live stream: Sky GO / NowTV
Tottenham team: Kinsky, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bissouma, Bentancur, Bergvall, Kulusevski, Solanke, Son.
Liverpool team: Alisson, Bradley, Van Dijk, Quansah, Tsimikas, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones, Salah, Jota, Gakpo.
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Now Liverpool are forced into their own early change themselves as things tie continues in a stop-start fashion.
Jarell Quansah is sat on the turf and he won't be able to continue.
OFF: Quansah
ON: Endo
Just shy of 30 minutes on the clock, though we're probably only halfway through the action after that lengthy stoppage.
Not much happening in front of goal as things stand.
Now it's Liverpool's turn to attack and Mo Salah will feel he should've done better.
He initially finds Gakpo on the left edge of the box and you expect him to go for that far corner. Instead he lays it back off for Salah who curls an effort towards goal but it's always curling away.
In the end, it's a few yards wide.
Nearly for Spurs!
They're knocking at the door, this time the ball is worked out to Son on the left.
Clever stepover as he drives at Bradley inside the box before a low, fired cross is flicked just wide by Solanke running across the front post.
An almost moment from Kulusevski as Tottenham remain on the front foot.
They win the ball inside the Liverpool final third and Kulusevski attempts to drill a pass in behind for Solanke which almost comes off, but rolls through to Alisson.
Any more news on Bentancur and we'll bring it straight away.
Back to the action on the park, Kinsky needed two bites at the cherry to catch a long ball into the area but he showed incredible composure to make a square pass for Dragusin inside his own area.
Only his second touch in a Spurs shirt but already looks like he could play in midfield.
Back underway
The game is back underway as the scoreboard hits 15 minutes, having stopped after six and a half minutes.
So a lengthy stoppage as Johnson replaces Bentancur. But it's NOT a concussion substitution...
The Spurs corner comes in but Alisson collects easily.
We wish Bentancur well, of course.
Pictures don't look clever
Brennan Johnson is getting stripped to come on but still the medical team work with Bentancur.
He is being moved onto the stretcher.
The pictures are just coming in and he didn't look in a good way but hopefully the transfer to the stretcher is a good sign.
Bentancur worry
Around a dozen medical staff surround the midfielder.
Porro noticed almost immediately as Bentancur lay flat out on his stomach before Dragusin sprinted over after diverting that shot goal-bound.
Postecoglou seems to discuss with another member of staff that it was a head knock off the ground as a result of that missed diving header. Nobody else was around him at the time.
The stretcher is on pretty sharply, too.
Worrying scenes
The game has paused and this doesn't look good at all.
Not entirely sure what's happened by Bentancur is lying flat out on the ground having missed the ball with that stoop.
The Spurs and Liverpool players were quick to scream for help from the touchline.
WHAT A SAVE!
That's why Alisson has been included, a terrific stop!
Porro wins the initial corner and his flat delivery is missed by Bentancur at the near post.
It comes through to Son at the edge and his low and hard strike back into the area is helped goalwards by Dragusin and Alisson gets down quickly to keep it out and it's knocked behind for another corner.
An absolute shocker of a square ball from Tsimikas, into his own box for Van Dijk but hit straight to Solanke.
Spurs can't quite make the most of the gift though as Liverpool scramble to get it clear.
Salah collects the ball on halfway and immediately looks forward with a terrific cross-field switch over the high Spurs line.
Porro is chasing Gakpo back with his arm raised looking for offside.
Gakpo manages to cut in, inside the area but is crowded out as Spurs get back well.
Son sent on a race with Quansah down the Spurs left but the defender covers well to get the ball back to Alisson.
KICK-OFF!
Underway at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium!
What a stat
Such is the strength of the Liverpool side tonight, this is only Alisson's SECOND appearance in this cup competition, Sky have said.
That's wild given how long he's been at the club.
In the tunnel
The two sets of players are in the tunnel as we edge ever closer to kick-off.
Really good atmosphere here and we're expecting a good one.
Son and Van Dijk sharing a laugh with referee Stuart Attwell ahead of the teams heading out.
Straight from the start
On the decision to chuck his new goalkeeper in from the start tonight, Postecoglou told Sky: "He learned all the lads' names which was the first test so pretty comfortable with that!
"He's somebody we've been tracking for a while and we're excited to get him in.
"Whenever you make your debut for a new club it's always a big occasion. Obviously this one has a little bit of an edge to it given the opposition and circumstance.
"I feel good about throwing him in and we think we have an exciting player on our hands and I'm sure he'll handle it well."
'Even Mo would struggle'
Ange Postecoglou reckons the battle Spurs are having with their injuries means even 'world class' Mo Salah would 'struggle' to have an impact.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: "Mo is a world class player. But put him in our team, I'm not sure he'd have the same impact because of the situation we're in.
"As an attacking player, what do you need? You need a team in good form, creating opportunities and playing on the front foot.
"And you need a defence that's cohesive. None of these things exist at the moment."
Defending Trent
Arne Slot has defended Trent Alexander-Arnold amid the furore surrounding his performance against Manchester United.
Slot reckons the ongoing contract situation is not serving as a distraction and says United's quality was tough for him to deal with.
He said: “If we drop points when Mo misses a penalty against (Real) Madrid, he is distracted by his contract situation. If Trent has not his best performance, he is distracted by the contract situation.
"If they play really well nobody tells me, ‘That’s because they have a contract situation’.
“We always try to find arguments but nine out of 10 times the best argument is the quality of the team you face or the game-plan the other team has.”
He's a keeper
Antonin Kinsky was out early and pitch-side taking in his new surroundings.
The Spurs keeper - the new Petr Cech some are saying - is thrown in straight away after his very recent £12.5million switch from Slavia Prague.
Ball or nothing
Speaking of overcoming, let's hope both players overcome one huge difficulty this evening.
The Carabao Cup football.
I jest, of course. It looks an absolute beauty and will no doubt be picked out the net on more than a few occasions later.
'Very, very hard'
Kostas Tsimikas is in from the start and told Liverpool's website that the side's aims this season are 'to win everything'.
But he knows they've got a difficult task of reaching Wembley by overcoming a 'very, very hard' opponent.
He said: "Always when we play against them it's really tough.
"We have to win both games if we want to be at Wembley. They have very, very talented players and they play really, really good football.
"It's a very, very hard opponent to play against, but this team showed many, many times that we are 100% focused.
"The team is clear: we want to win everything."
Leading man
Cody Gakpo's recent form has been pivotal to Liverpool's continued good form.
He's scored in three successive games and has four goals and two assists in six games.
And he LOVES this competition too, with no player in England scoring more than the four he's grabbed to this stage.
Same again?
Arne Slot was questioned on the possibility of tonight following a same pattern to the game between the sides recently.
Liverpool's 6-3 win showed the good - and the bad - of Tottenham and Slot reckons the identities are so clear that he predicts another exciting, open game.
He said: "I think what we expect before we go into the game is that two teams have such a clear identity and playing style, that is I think what most people expect to see tomorrow again as well.
"They have their identity, we have our own identity, and both teams trying to force that identity towards the other. Large parts of the away game two weeks ago, we could show our identity.
"But there were definitely also parts in the game where they showed how good of a team they are. Scoring three goals against us is also an accomplishment.
"I know we scored six in the game as well but scoring three against us, not many teams have done [that] until now."