The Details
Venue – Wembley Stadium
Referee – Andre Marriner
Date & Time – Sunday, October 22nd @ 16:00 BST
Current Odds – Spurs 11/10, Draw 5/2, Liverpool 23/10
Form
Spurs come into this match having lost only once in all competitions this season. That was the 2-1 home defeat to Chelsea back in August. Unfortunately for Liverpool, they seem to be adjusting to their temporary home at Wembley. Harry Kane has overcome his strange August hoodoo and is now in the form of his life. Add to that the fact they earned a very respectable point at the Bernabeu midweek and it really does look like Liverpool will have their work cut out for them.
The table below shows that in their last five games Spurs have an 80% win record with a very impressive goal tally of 12 for and only 3 against. Their xG shows that Spurs’ games have been closer than the goal difference suggests. However, that also means that Spurs have been the one thing Liverpool have NOT been since September, clinical (the Maribor game aside, of course!)
Liverpool have been desperately trying to lift themselves out of a rut. They are by no means in crisis, as the tabloids would often suggest, but they had hit a wall after the first international break.
Maribor bore the brunt of much pent-up attacking frustration from the likes of Firmino and Salah on Tuesday night. Let’s hope they’ve saved at least a couple more for Sunday.
Liverpool’s xG ‘dominance’ in games shows that the Reds have not been playing poorly, but just lacking confidence in front of goal. The Maribor rout may just have cured that issue, I hope.
Team News
Spurs are missing Ben Davies and Erik Lamela while their defensive midfielder, Victor Wanyama, is also a doubt. Pochettino still regularly uses a 3-4-2-1 setup and I expect to see this again on Sunday. Danny Rose is set to continue his come-back on the left side after returning during the week for some game time against Real Madrid.
Liverpool are without Clyne, Lallana and Sadio Mané. Klopp seems to have settled on Alberto Moreno as the first-choice left-back for now and recent performances have shown sure signs of improvement from the Spaniard.
Spurs’ Top 3 Rated Players this season (WhoScored.com)
- Harry Kane 7.83
- Ben Davies 7.61
- Christian Eriksen 7.49
Predicted XIs
Spurs XI (3-4-2-1) – Lloris(c); Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Trippier, Dier, Winks, Rose; Eriksen, Alli; Kane
Liverpool XI (4-1-2-3) – Mignolet; Gomez, Matip, Lovren, Moreno; Henderson(c), Can, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Coutinho
When they last met
Last season, Liverpool beat Spurs 2-0 at Anfield and drew 1-1 in London. Milner put Liverpool ahead in the away game, just before half-time, before Danny Rose equalised in the 72nd minute.
Prediction
Spurs 1 – 3 Liverpool
I’m sticking my neck out here and going for the away win. Ridiculously, I’m drawing on inspiration from our last game at Wembley. A 4-0 friendly win over a certain Barcelona team!
Liverpool haven’t lost to Spurs since a 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane in 2012. Klopp normally gets his team set up nicely to take on Pochettino and I expect more of the same on Sunday.
