THE DETAILS
Venue – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Referee – Martin Atkinson
Date & Time – Thursday, January 28th @ 20:00
Current Odds – Spurs 11/5, Draw 13/5, Liverpool 6/5
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Eight big games in the next four and a half weeks for Liverpool. The Reds are stuck in a rut but they are battling with everything they have to get out of this. We saw evidence of that at Old Trafford on Sunday. The confidence going forward was on display. Liverpool are going to have to play their way back into form. There isn’t time for anything else during such a hectic schedule. Don’t write this season off just yet, though, Reds. This story still has quite a few twists that it’s yet to reveal.
FORM
Spurs Form
Spurs are unbeaten in seven games across all competitions. Their last league defeat came at home to Leicester City (2-0) just days after Liverpool had beaten them 2-1 at Anfield in December.
Jose Mourinho is doing a solid job this season, however. His men are fifth in the league, just one point behind The Reds with a game in hand.
Spurs won 3-1 at Sheffield United in their last league fixture. The goals came from Serge Aurier, Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombélé.
Liverpool Form
Let’s get this over with quickly, shall we?
Liverpool haven’t won a league game since their record-breaking 7-0 win at Crystal Palace in December. Jérgen Klopp’s side has a 1-3-3 record in their most recent seven games in all competitions. The lone victory was in the FA Cup against Aston Villa’s youth players. The Reds went out of that same competition on Sunday, losing 3-2 to rivals Manchester United.
Liverpool’s last Premier League goal was on December 27th when Sadio Mané put them ahead in the 1-1 draw at Anfield against West Brom.
TEAM NEWS
Spurs Team News
Jose Mourinho is without Giovani Lo Celso for Thursday’s game while the trio of Serge Aurier, Dele Alli and Matt Doherty will all face late fitness tests this week.
Mourinho has used three at the back on the odd occasion this season but he’s likely to stick with 4-2-3-1 for this game with Harry Kane leading the line for the hosts.
Heung-Min Son is always a thorn in Liverpool’s side so he will have to be managed carefully by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joël Matip.
Liverpool Team News
Liverpool are still missing Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Kostas Tsimikas, Naby Keïta and Diogo Jota.
Jordan Henderson will undergo a fitness test this week after missing the last two games for The Reds with a muscle injury.
Joël Matip should be available for selection after returning in Liverpool’s defeat to Burnley on last week. Jürgen Klopp did not risk playing the centre-half in the FA Cup game with Manchester United on Sunday.
With Henderson possibly not going to be at full match fitness, James Milner could make a second consecutive start after playing the full 90 minutes at Old Trafford.
I expect the midfield trio to be Thiago Alcântara, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum.
Matip will partner Fabinho in central defence while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson continue at right-back and left-back respectively.
Klopp probably will stick with his strongest front three, bringing Sadio Mané back into the starting eleven.
PREDICTED LINEUPS
Spurs XI (4-2-3-1) – Lloris; Doherty, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies; Højbjerg, Winks; Bergwijn, Ndombélé, Son; Kane
Liverpool XI (4-3-3) – Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Fabinho, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Thiago, Milner; Salah, Firmino, Mané
WHEN THEY LAST MET
Liverpool won 2-1 when the sides met at Anfield in mid-December. Heung-Min Son cancelled out Mohamed Salah’s opening goal only for Roberto Firmino to pop up with a brilliant, powerful header to win the game in the 90th minute for The Reds.
Last season, Liverpool won 1-0 away to Spurs thanks to another goal from Firmino.
Jürgen Klopp’s men have won six consecutive games against Spurs in all competitions, including the Champions League final in Madrid in June 2019. Spurs haven’t beaten The Reds since that 4-1 horror show at Wembley in October 2017.
PREDICTION
SPURS 1 – 1 LIVERPOOL
It’s difficult to predict a Liverpool win these days, such is the bad run of form The Reds find themselves in. There were certainly signs of improvement in the 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday. If they can keep creating chances as they did, more and more goals will follow. However, for now, I think a draw is the most likely result in London this Thursday night.
