The details
Venue – Anfield, Liverpool
Referee – Anthony Taylor
Date & Time – Sunday, October 27th @ 16:30
Current Odds – Liverpool 1/2, Draw 7/2, Spurs 5/1
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Liverpool Vs Spurs… it’s always a fascinating matchup with no shortage of goals. Spurs have provided consistently tough opposition under Mauricio Pochettino in recent years and Sunday’s game will certainly be no different.
Form
Liverpool Form
Liverpool bounced back from their disappointing 1-1 draw with Manchester United by winning comfortably in Belgium on Wednesday night. Goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (x2), Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah set Liverpool up nicely for this Sunday’s clash with Spurs.
The Reds have won 8 of their 9 league games so far and really have to be expected to make it 9 from 10 against an out-of-sorts Spurs side at Anfield.
Spurs Form
Spurs’ 5-0 win against Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday night was only the side’s second victory in its last 8 fixtures in all competitions. Mauricio Pochettino’s team is currently seventh in the league table having already lost three times.
During the week, players like Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane looked to be in great form but it was against a significantly weaker side. Last weekend in the Premier League, Pochettino’s men couldn’t overcome bottom-of-the-table Watford, drawing 1-1 at home to The Hornets.
It’s difficult to know exactly which Spurs team will turn up on Sunday but whichever it is, Liverpool should be looking to win and maintain at least a six-point lead at the top of the table.
Team news
Liverpool Team News
Nathaniel Clyne and Xherdan Shaqiri are the only two Liverpool players who will definitely be unavailable this weekend.
Clyne has an ACL injury which he picked up in pre-season so the right-back isn’t due back in full training until early 2020.
Shaqiri has a persistent calf problem that has kept him out of the squad for a few weeks now. He should be fit again in November.
Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold both stayed on Merseyside, missing Liverpool’s 4-1 Champions League win in Belgium on Wednesday night. Alexander-Arnold had a virus while Matip was recovering from a knock he picked up in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last Sunday. Both are expected to be available for selection this weekend.
I think Klopp will bring both Matip and Alexander-Arnold back in against Spurs.
Andrew Robertson should also be okay to start at left-back. He did come off after 63 minutes against Genk but Klopp confirmed the Scottish international was fine, after the game.
While Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might well deserve a start – and I hope he gets it – after his two-goal performance against Genk, I think Klopp will stick with his preferred trio of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum in the middle.
In attack, The Reds will be at full strength with Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané all displaying fine form in the Champions League. They will be raring to go again this weekend.
Spurs Team News
Ryan Sessegnon and Hugo Lloris are both ruled out of the trip to Anfield. Sessegnon is expected to return from his current injury in November. Lloris had that sickening dislocated elbow a few weeks back, keeping him out for the foreseeable future.
Whatever has been going on behind the scenes at Spurs this season, it does seem to have had an impact on Christian Eriksen’s level of performance. However, the Great Dane will probably start against Liverpool to provide for Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son in the forward line.
At the back, Paulo Gazzaniga is Lloris’ stand-in replacement in goals while Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen should form the heart of the defence.
Spurs’ midfield will have a three-man base, probably consisting of Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombélé.
Predicted lineups
Liverpool XI (4-3-3) – Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mané
Spurs XI (4-3-1-2) – Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Sissoko, Winks, Ndombélé; Eriksen; Kane, Son
When they last met
Liverpool did the double over Spurs last season in the Premier League, winning both games 2-1. The Anfield fixture in March was decided by a late Toby Alderweireld own-goal after Hugo Lloris fumbled Mohamed Salah’s header. It was a pulsating encounter and we can expect more of the same this weekend.
The last meeting between the sides, of course, was in Madrid in June. Liverpool won 2-0 to lift the European Cup for the sixth time in the club’s history.
Spurs’ last win at Anfield was in 2011 when goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric ensured victory for the north London club.
Prediction
Liverpool 2 – 1 Spurs
Just our luck. Spurs seem to have found their form again during the week as they destroyed Red Star Belgrade 5-0 in London in the Champions League.
Liverpool can make another real statement of intent by taking all three points and I think they will. Anfield will be bouncing and, even though I think Spurs will score – Son is in great form, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds should get the win.
