Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool – Match Preview

Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool - Match Preview

Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool – Match Preview – Wembley hosts the match of the weekend, as Spurs look to end a five-year drought against a Liverpool side who desperately need to get their Premier League campaign back on track.

Whilst faring well against their respective title rivals, or the ‘big 6’, Spurs have to look as far back as 2012 for the last time they enjoyed victory over The Reds – a feat perhaps made even more difficult with the current inconsistency being endured at their new temporary home, Wembley.

A battling 1-0 win over Bournemouth at England’s home of football in their last league fixture quelled some of the nerves, but a Liverpool team fresh from scoring seven goals away in the Champions League will unquestionably prove to be a sterner test.

Pochettino’s side will come into the game with more confidence too after returning from successful European exploits of their own – with a well-earned 1-1 draw against double Champions League victors Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite a change in personnel and tactics. This result proves that Spurs are a top team and can mix it with the biggest, highlighting their huge progression in recent years.

Kane is yet to score at Wembley for Spurs Photo Credit: skysports.com

With the two Manchester clubs’ barnstorming starts to the season, Spurs are almost the forgotten team. With a 2nd and 3rd (although many know it should have also been 2nd) place finish in the last two campaigns, write them off at your own peril though – they are only three points away from Manchester United and five from City, it could be The Lilywhites who find themselves perched at the top in the blink of an eye, especially in such an unpredictable division.

Liverpool have won just one of their last five in the league and before Tuesday night’s win in Slovenia just one of their last eight in all competitions. The last league fixture was a turgid 0-0 draw against long-term enemy Manchester United, which once again highlighted the lack of clinical edge in the team’s attacking play; a feature which has hindered Liverpool most of the season – other draws against Burnley, Spartak and Sevilla spring to mind.

Whilst the building blocks were there for all to see under Klopp for Liverpool last season by securing 4th place and Champions League football, the side have failed to kick on, currently languishing in 8th position on 13 points from eight games, some nine points off Manchester City at the top and some pressure could be mounting on the popular German manager.

Coutinho can make it five consecutive away goals if he finds the net against Spurs Photo Credit: skysports.com

A win against a major rival like Tottenham could dispel any such pressure and set The Reds on the path of challenging at the peak of the table again; with other results going their way Klopp’s men could climb as high as fourth into the Champions League places – showing how tight the league is. When a fully fluid and firing Liverpool are a force to be reckoned with, it’s just a case of finding that force regularly.

An intriguing and quality-filled game of football is to be expected with two managers trying to impose their style of play on the game and dominate the opposition.
It may be a case of who can take their chances – or a piece of magic from a respective talisman Harry Kane or Phillipe Coutinho – the latter of whom is searching for his fifth consecutive away goal for Liverpool. Could he be the match winner?

 

Suggested Tips

Leave a comment