16 Conclusions From Liverpool 0 Spurs 0

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* "Fantastic for us to get him back, he should never have been out in the first place." May I venture, Kenneth, that a few days before the most incendiary game of the season that is going to be a nightmarish cauldron of unpleasantness anyway, that this probably wasn't the wisest thing to say in a post-match interview? The problem that most sensible people have with Liverpool is that, even if they think Suarez's punishment was harsh, their conduct throughout this whole affair hasn't given the slightest suggestion that they can see why what Luis Suarez said might've been a problem.

Of course Liverpool and Dalglish are going to defend their man, but a failure to move on isn't dignified, and he's making it increasingly difficult for us neutrals, most of whom have respected him greatly over his career (given his titles and dignified conduct after Hillsborough, how could we not?), to continue this admiration.

* Having got that out of the way, to the game. A point gained for Liverpool? On the basis that they were playing the team in third place who'd lost just one of their last ten games, then perhaps. However, a Tottenham side with a number of key injuries and who sat back to dangerous levels were, if not there for the taking, certainly very vulnerable. Of course, home draws against teams they perhaps should have beaten have been a theme of Liverpool's season so far. Add an under-strength Spurs to Sunderland, Norwich, Swansea, Blackburn and Stoke.

* "There's not another team that has constructed as many chances as us," said Dalglish when asked if he was worried with Liverpool's chance-conversion rate, which according to Opta stands at 8.5%. Well, that's one way of looking at things - another might be that Liverpool's profligacy is preventing a decent season becoming an excellent one. Only six teams in the Premier League have scored fewer goals than Liverpool this season, and of course Blackburn are among the teams with a higher tally.

Here's a little something that we mentioned earlier in the season - if Liverpool had scored one more goal in each of their games this season, they would have 19 more points, putting them top of the table. It's crude, it's inexact and it ignores a huge amount of other factors, but it's an illustration of how their problems in front of goal have held them back.

* One imagines that Fabio Capello was at Anfield primarily to watch Steven Gerrard, but he may well have left with a better impression of Michael Dawson. The Spurs defender was terrific in dealing with the threat of a revitalised Carroll, and if he keeps up those sorts of performances, given the varied causes for concern over England's other centre-backs, he could well be a shoo-in for the Euro 2012 squad.

* What may have interested Capello is where Gerrard played. In his previous games this season, Gerrard has played in a deeper role, but with Jordan Henderson relegated to the bench, Gerrard played at the point of a three-man central midfield, just behind a striker. Ideally, Capello may want Gerrard to play in this position in the summer, behind Wayne Rooney at some point, or AN Other striker before Rooney is available. He doesn't have the lung-bursting dynamism of old, and he rarely moved beyond Carroll in this game, but he might be better with a slightly more mobile partner.

* The rehabilitation of Andy Carroll continues. After an almost entirely calamitous first year at Liverpool, his performances are starting to pick up. As Gary Neville noted after the game, there was a mobility to his performance that had been absent before. While never a particularly rapid man, Carroll's size is such that the speed he does have makes him look like an incredibly powerful and threatening presence, and rather than lumbering around the pitch with no clear idea of where he was going Carroll did at least appear to have some form of purpose to his play. A couple of pretty decent chances were spurned, but at least he looks like scoring these days.

* It's a point that we've made before, but this game provided more evidence for the theory that Spurs are half the attacking force without Aaron Lennon. With the nippy winger in the side, Spurs provide rapid, direct threats from both flanks, forcing the opposition to deal with the twin threats as best they can. Without him, and with the perfectly decent but nowhere near as threatening Niko Kranjcar on the right flank, opposing sides can concentrate most of their defensive energies on stopping Gareth Bale on the left (or wherever he fancies popping up). With an in-form Lennon, Spurs are far, far more dangerous.

* Indeed, this game was perhaps when Spurs needed Lennon the most. With two right-footed players (Craig Bellamy and Glen Johnson) on Liverpool's left side, Lennon could have exploited the inevitable space and vulnerabilities left exposed on the flank.

* Having said that, Liverpool did neutralise Bale very well, the late chance aside. Indeed, the whole Liverpool midfield shut down the visitors' creative outlets very well indeed, with Luka Modric nowhere near as influential as usual.

* A quick word about the 'dive' Bale was booked for. Now, if you watch the incident closely, you'll see Daniel Agger move to put in quite a hefty challenge, but pull away slightly. If Bale had not gone down, he would most likely have been wiped out by the big Dane, and as we know there doesn't necessarily have to be contact for a free-kick to be given. It was a tricky call for Michael Oliver (who had a pretty decent game), but Bale has a right to feel slightly hard done by.

* The Liverpool bench may have been outraged that Martin Skrtel was penalised for the late challenge on Bale, but looking at the marks on his knee and shin, which looked suspiciously like stud imprints, might suggest he was lucky to get away with a yellow card.

* Is Luis Suarez involved in some sort of arrangement with Manchester United-supporting bloggers to get their hits up and provide content? That, and possibly a combination of rust and giddiness, can be the only possible explanation for his first significant act after returning from nine games out being to boot Scott Parker in the guts. If nothing else, he's hugely entertaining.

* Having said that, Suarez was greeted by the crowd (expected, and to an extent understandable) and the Sky commentators (less so) like some sort of returning hero, back from the war and into the welcoming arms of a waiting wife. While one can hardly expect the chaps on TV to dress him up in a white sheet or demonise him further, if you had no prior knowledge of the situation, you wouldn't know he'd been suspended after being found guilty of using racially abusive language.

* Boy, Parker's been in the wars this season. With Suarez's impromptu martial arts exhibition and Mario Balotelli's stray studs, he's been bloody lucky to escape some pretty serious injuries.

* We don't wish to bang on about this, but is there really anyone out there that still doesn't like Gary Neville as a pundit? The point of having former players in the TV studio is that they should, in theory, spot stuff that us laymen would not see. Neville does that.

* What a lovely-looking cat that was. Aside from being the most interesting bit of the first half, it inspired this glorious piece of Photoshopping, by F365 Forum stalwart WastedJoker.

Nick Miller - if you're going to abuse him on Twitter, please be creative