Why Tottenham have a mentality problem as Liverpool provides latest evidence

Roberto De Zerbi needs more character in his Tottenham Hotspur squad.

Spurs' winless run has now extended to four games after they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Beating Liverpool at Anfield is never an easy task, but Andoni Iraola gave the Lilywhites every chance with his team selection.

Indeed, the Reds fielded a host of young players and fringe first-teamers, whilst De Zerbi picked a largely strong side.

Nevertheless, it was the Merseyside outfit who ran out 3-1 winners, ensuring Tottenham have one less piece of silverware to compete for this season.

But what happened at Anfield wasn't an isolated incident for Spurs, rather, it was a reflection of an age-old problem.

When was last time Tottenham won after conceding first?

A sign of a team that has a strong mentality and will to win is a side that can handle adversity and still find ways to win.

Tottenham haven't shown themselves to be one of those teams in quite some time, much to the frustration of the N17 faithful.

Many Spurs fans often feel resigned to a defeat once they see their side go behind, and that's not just pessimism either.

As captured by X user Spurs Army, Sky Sports posted a graphic during the Liverpool game that revealed a damning statistic.

It showed that in the last 46 games when Tottenham have conceded the first goal, they've not won a single one of them, drawn 11 and lost 35.

That means you have to go back to November 2024 to find the last time they won after going a goal down, which was a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa.

If Spurs can't address this soon, then there should be no expectation of success in N17.

But why will the Liverpool game in particular infuriate De Zerbi in relation to this piece of unwanted Tottenham history?

Why Tottenham are so close but so far from ending mentality problem

Liverpool may well have won the match on Tuesday, but Tottenham, in many respects, were actually the better side.

As per FotMob, Spurs averaged 56 per cent possession in the game to Liverpool's 44, and took 17 shots to the Reds' 12.

Spurs also had an expected goals (xG) of 2.34 to the home sides' 1.53, and played 413 accurate passes to Liverpool's 305.

Tottenham won 56 per cent of the duels, 67 per cent of aerial duels and won nine corners to Liverpool's five.

Overall then, the Lilywhites created more than enough opportunities to ensure Conor Gallagher wasn't their only player amongst the goals.

But whether through a lack of quality, mentality or both, Tottenham again proved that they're lacking the ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.