Liverpool crashed to a shock 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane on the opening day of the Premiership; seriously hurting their claims of being able to clinch the league this season.

Tottenham were cocky and confident for most of the game in contrast to Liverpool who appeared to be on the back foot for some strange reason. The game began with a host of chances for Spurs; more particularly for Robbie Keane who failed to provide finishing touches.

The Premier League campaign began very well for Spurs who forged into the lead in the 44th minute after Benoit Assou-Ekotto unleashed a 25-yard effort past Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina. In fact Liverpool should have been down by more than one goal, but Spurs failed to capitalize on their chances.

After the break, new signing Glen Johnson was brought down by Heurelho Gomes to give away a penalty on 54 minutes, which was duly converted by Steven Gerrard. Even after restoring parity, Liverpool never got going, which will be a matter of grave concern for manager Rafa Benitez.

On 59 minutes, Sebastian Bassong put Spurs back in the lead after he headed in a free-kick taken by Luka Modric. There was a stoppage in play for some 12 minutes when Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher collided heads.

Thereafter Liverpool made concerted efforts to equalize, but were unable to break down the Spurs defense. Andriy Voronin came on in the latter part and had a penalty claim waved away as Liverpool resigned to what was a bitter defeat for their fans on the opening day.