Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur
Date: 27/10/2019
K/O: 16:30
Venue: Anfield
Referee: Anthony Taylor
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
The new season’s first meet up between the Champions League finalists takes place at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, with one team’s recent form drastically better than their opponents.
With the clocks turning back on Sunday, the two teams will be kicking off under full floodlights as the sun sets shortly after kick-off. The home fans will hope that their slightly unexpected draw against bitter rivals Manchester United won’t gloom the players’ performance against Tottenham, who have suffered plenty of shock results themselves this season.
Given Liverpool’s stellar form at Anfield (unbeaten at home since April 2017 in the league), the Reds are fully expected to replicate the result that saw them lift the Champions League trophy in June. Their 1-1 draw last weekend shouldn’t dampen the squad’s mood too much, as Old Trafford is indeed a difficult arena to visit and tremendous grit was needed to clinch a point, for which Klopp’s men deserve credit.
Perhaps the absence of Mo Salah last Sunday had a part to play in Liverpool’s under-par performance. A little extra penetration was missing from the forward play, with Mane occupying the right-hand wing and Origi filling in on the left. The Egyptian’s ankle injury does not seem to have developed into anything too serious and he is expected to return to action on Sunday.
Tottenham also endured a large portion of last week’s Premier League game behind by one goal to nil, before a controversial equaliser from Dele Alli drew them level with Watford, who are still currently propping up the table at the bottom. Overall, Spurs’ home form has been a lot better than their away form, but Saturday’s showing was another case of the team under-performing against an opponent they should be winning comfortably against.
Having said that, Spurs gave their fans much more joy at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in their most recent match with a 5-0 thrashing against Red Star, meaning that their European campaign is already going better than it was at this time last year.
Heung-min Son, Erik Lamela, Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele were the standout performers in that match. There was a real team collective, especially in the attacking areas, and Pochettino will hope that his players can reshape their form on Sunday off the back of a convincing performance.
Team News
Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip did not take the trip to Belgium for Wednesday night’s Champions League fixture, with the former picking up a virus and the latter a superficial knee injury. It is likely that both players will return to action against Tottenham.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s calf injury has slowly been improving over the last month, but there is still uncertainty as to whether the Swiss will be available for selection on the weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur
As for Spurs, their injury list is slowly depleting, with new loan signing Giovani Lo Celso gratefully accepting about ten minutes of game time against Red Star on Tuesday.
Ryan Sessegnon, another one of Spurs’ summer signings, is steadily building up match fitness before being eased into the first team, but the teenager may have a seat reserved on the bench for Sunday’s fixture.
Hugo Lloris remains out for the rest of the calendar year after suffering a dislocated elbow against Brighton, so Gazzaniga will likely once again fill in between the posts, although Vorm could reappear in the position after Spurs re-signed the keeper two weeks ago.
Predicted Starting XIs
Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson; Robertson, van Dijk, Matip, Alexander-Arnold; Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Henderson; Mane, Firmino, Salah
Tottenham Hotspur (4-1-2-1-2): Gazzaniga; Rose, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Aurier; Winks; Ndombele, Sissoko; Lamela; Kane, Son
Score Prediction: Liverpool 3 Tottenham Hotspur 1
After Spurs’ convincing performance in the Champions League, fans will be hoping they can make a game of the extremely tough fixture coming up on Sunday, but it is likely that Liverpool will control the game and make full use of the gaps that Tottenham often leave open in defence.
