THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM, NORTH LONDON // Liverpool will have to come from behind in the second leg of its Carabao Cup tie with Spurs thanks to a late goal from Lucas Bergvall.

Rodrigo Bentancur was stretchered off after a lengthy delay in the first half. The Uruguayan landed awkwardly while attempting to head the ball from a corner, with Spurs confirming during the game that he is conscious and receiving medical attention, with everyone's fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

On another tricky night for Liverpool, the Reds are behind in the tie with Ange Postecoglou's men having edged in front. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.

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Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas return

With Trent Alexander-Arnold having a nightmare at the worst possible time against Manchester United, the accusations of him being distracted were inevitable. There is certainly a strong argument that he needed another go from the off here to put it right quickly, but Slot had other ideas.

Twenty-one-year-old Conor Bradley came in from the start, with the Liverpool boss explaining pre-match that he simply wanted to get minutes into his legs — and rest Alexander-Arnold — after a period of not being able to do either of those things. Bradley certainly looked like he needed minutes. He grew into the game, but he started very slowly.

On the opposite side of his defense, Slot went with Kostas Tsimikas, he said for the same reasons. The Greek left-back is very much number two in the pecking order but Andy Robertson is not having the easiest of seasons. Indeed, the heat was taken off him last weekend by Alexander-Arnold being so poor.

Tsimikas also looked a bit shaky and almost teed up Dominic Solanke with one of his first touches. He too got better as the first half went on, but it was a far from convincing showing. He will benefit from the minutes.

First-half injury concerns

Bentancur going down as he did was a horrible sight and his teammates knew something was wrong straight away. After lengthy treatment on the field, he was stretchered off with plenty of medical assistance. Everyone will have their fingers crossed that it isn't as bad as it looked.

In a disrupted first half, Jarell Quansah went off too, to be replaced by Wataru Endo. Ibrahima Konate was among the subs but the Frenchman is just back from injury and clearly couldn't manage an hour or more. Quansah and Joe Gomez are now sidelined, which is far from ideal — but Endo, in fairness, largely did well in his place.

Diogo Jota working his way back

Beginning the season as the number one pick down the middle of Slot's attack, Diogo Jota had not started for Liverpool since the Chelsea game in which he got injured in mid-October. He has come off the bench in six matches since recovering, but the Portugal forward has had to be patient.

He needed to ensure he didn't lose his patience here too with his touch off and his passing miles away from its usual level. He very much looked like he had been thrown in from the cold, as was the case with Bradley and Tsimikas.

Like the full-back pairing, Jota will benefit from getting the minutes. It will be no bad thing that he got some proper action under his belt. In terms of this match, Luis Diaz might have been the better option, though Arne Slot will be thinking more long-term.

Trent Alexander-Arnold feelings clear

Coming on in the second half for half an hour or so, Alexander-Arnold played considerably better than he did against Manchester United. Frankly, he couldn't have been much worse.

It was timely with so much talk around him at the moment. He was beaten a couple of times by his man, but showed plenty of willingness and desire to chase back.

The away end made its feelings clear immediately when he came on, singing his name and roaring about the "Scouser in the team". Minutes later, an excellent shot of his was cleared off the line. This was a step in the right direction, for sure.

State of the tie

With Accrington Stanley coming up at the weekend, there was absolutely no need for Liverpool to make changes to its starting team here. In the case of the first-choice full-backs, neither played well against Manchester United and could argue with being benched.

Aside from that, it was exactly what you would expect. Alisson Becker got the nod in goal — presumably because Caoimhin Kelleher will get the weekend's game and Slot doesn't want his number one to be too out of rhythm by not playing two in a row — and Diogo Jota coming into the forward line is hardly a step down in quality.

It didn't show on the pitch, though. When the teams meet in the second leg at Anfield on Thursday, February 6, Liverpool will need to come from behind. Slot and his staff were getting increasingly frustrated on the touchline with his plan not being executed; his side has work to do in the second leg.