Liverpool's 'make or break' Tottenham clash ended with 'the most amazing sight in football'

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.

Liverpool need a win against struggling Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to boost hopes of finishing in the Champions League spots, but they've been here beforeIt was a game which had so much riding on it that Rafael Benitez would break with tradition.The Liverpool boss, usually so stubborn and stoic in front of the press, shocked members of the media when he was faced with the question of whether or not a January 2010 meeting with a Tottenham Hotspur side four points ahead of them in table - and at a time when both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, as well as an in-form Yossi Benayoun, were injured - was a 'make or break' moment for his side's season and ambitions of finishing in the top four."Yes," was the extremely matter of fact, nonchalant reply. It's an important game for us."If Tottenham win, it will give them a buzz and a lift and they will have confidence, but if we can beat them, then we'll be in a good position.

And when a team is fighting from behind it gives you more confidence."Those comments, coming at a time when the pitch battle between Benitez and owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett was at its height, lit the red touch paper, and flags and banners in support of the manager were out in force for the arrival of the team coach before such a thing was commonplace at Anfield.One of the great Premier League nights in L4 would unfold, as a vociferous home crowd played their part and left Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp in awe.Attacking the Kop end in the first half, it would take the Reds just six minutes to establish an advantage.In the absence of Gerrard and Torres, it was Alberto Aquilani and Dirk Kuyt who were asked to provide the attacking thrust, and after the Italian - on a rare positive night in his Anfield career - was challenged on the edge the box the ball broke to Kuyt to fire home a controlled finish and set Anfield alight.It was a moment the crowd had been baying for, and Kuyt almost added a second with a header that was cleared off the line by Gareth Bale, before Luka Modric saw his effort saved by Pepe Reina. The second was just as emphatically dispatched, and was greeted with the loudest roar of the evening.“You have to give credit where it’s due, Liverpool worked their socks off," said an impressed Redknapp after the game."They closed us down and pressed us.

I have said before you never get an easy game here."You stand out there and hear the crowd sing - it's the most amazing sight in football, and it lifts the players. Dirk Kuyt never stopped working and chasing, the whole team played with great enthusiasm."A night that started with Benitez's words hanging over it ended with the crowd singing his name.Liverpool have had plenty more celebrated occasions in the 16 years that followed this raucous January evening, but this one was special.