Barren scoreboard after Reds v Spurs clash

Tottenham 0 Liverpool 0

If Sven-Goran Eriksson had come to White Hart Lane to find a replacement for Wayne Rooney against Austria, he will have left with his search still wide open after Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch failed to break the deadlock.

But while both England strikers had ’goals’ ruled out – a fate which curiously also befell Poland international Grzegorz Rasiak – it was midfielder Michael Carrick who should have really caught the England coach’s eye.

Carrick, partnered in central midfield by new signing Jermaine Jenas, outperformed Steven Gerrard throughout this stalemate at White Hart Lane and should be a strong contender for a call-up against Austria next month.

Whether Eriksson is persuaded of such a change remains to be seen, with his greatest concern remaining Rooney’s replacement as the striker is suspended against Austria.

Indeed, the England coach can only have concluded that he has rather more strength in central defence – where Jamie Carragher and Ledley King were both outstanding – than in attack.

However, it is Carrick’s form which demands further inspection in the next few weeks, with England crying out for a holding midfielder, with Gerrard and Frank Lampard out of form and David Beckham not cut out for the task.

With Spurs including £11m (€16.3m) worth of deadline day signings, Jermaine Jenas was handed a central role alongside Carrick, while Lee Young-Pyo provided width outside Edgar Davids and Rasiak offered height up front.

Liverpool, meanwhile, gave Crouch his first start of the season after injury, but rather than opting for a cautious five-man midfield, boss Rafael Benitez included Djibril Cisse up front as well.

It was a relatively open game, but with few early chances as Cisse’s snapshot flew wide and Defoe’s drive sped over the bar.

Defoe came even closer with his next effort after indecision in the Liverpool defence, while Jose Reina failed to deal with a cross by the former West Ham striker but Jenas just failed to take advantage.

Spurs had two half-hearted penalty appeals turned down, while Lee made a handful of penetrating runs down the left flank, King had a shot blocked and Defoe’s ’goal’ was ruled out for a clear offside decision.

Not that the home side could rest on their laurels, however, as Liverpool threatened intermittently.

Stephen Warnock launched a deep cross and, when the Spurs defence’s attention was distracted by Crouch, Luis Garcia was allowed to sneak in at the far post only to volley into the side netting.

Crouch also rose to meet Gerrard’s free-kick, only to head the ball two feet over the bar, but the clearest chance of the first half fell to Rasiak just before the interval.

Reina could only parry Davids’ powerful free-kick and the Poland international looped his follow-up header against the crossbar.

At the interval, Benitez replaced Dietmar Hamann, who had received a painful blow at a free-kick, with Mohamed Sissoko and he was greeted by pouring rain with the storm clouds having broken.

As the game came to life, Liverpool were now on top, with Cisse letting fly with a thunderous half-volley from Crouch’s knockdown, with Paul Robinson just managing to parry the ball.

The England goalkeeper also dived full-length to grasp John Arne Riise’s long-range effort, while the Norwegian then let fly with a superb volley which struck the underside of the bar and bounced to safety off the goal-line.

Tottenham tried to make the most of that reprieve, with Reina doing well to block Carrick’s long-range drive. While Defoe skied his follow-up over the bar, his blushes were saved by the offside flag.

Rasiak looked to have put the home side ahead but Carrick’s corner was adjudged to have curled out of play before the Polish international headed home and a goal-kick was duly awarded.

Rasiak’s next header was also ruled out for a push, although that had been directed well over the bar, while Liverpool made an enforced change with 22 minutes left as Xabi Alonso replaced Warnock.

Within a minute, Liverpool also thought they had gone ahead only for Crouch’s header to be ruled out for exactly the same reason as Rasiak’s, with the corner having gone out of play before the converter made contact.

And that effectively was that. For Eriksson, it was a familiar sight – yet another game which raised more questions than it solved.