Tottenham Hotspur host Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a blockbuster Premier League clash.
Should Newcastle win at Southampton in a mid-afternoon kick-off, Tottenham will need victory in order to reclaim third.
Liverpool meanwhile can go above Fulham into eighth with a win.
Team News
Son Heung-min is ruled out for Tottenham after he suffered an eye injury in Tuesday’s Champions League win at Marseille.
Dejan Kulusevski (muscle) could return but Lucas Moura (heel) and Rodrigo Bentancur (knock) are doubts.
Cristian Romero (muscle) and Richarlision (calf) remain absent.
Liverpool will be without James Milner due to requirement to follow concussion protocols, after he suffered a head injury in Tuesday’s Champions League win against Napoli.
Jordan Henderson (knock) is a doubt but Joel Matip, Diogo Jota (both calf), Luis Diaz (knee), Arthur Melo (muscle) and Naby Keita (unspecified) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Tottenham are winless in their last nine league meetings against Liverpool (D3, L6).
- Liverpool have lost just one of their last five away visits to Tottenham in Premier League (W3, D1, L1).
- Spurs’ Son Heung-min scored in both appearances against Liverpool last season (D2), as both teams drew 2-2 in North London in December 2021 then 1-1 at Anfield in May 2022.
- Harry Kane has scored in each of Tottenham’s last five domestic home matches (W4, L1).
- Each of Liverpool’s last five domestic games have been settled by one goal margins (W2, L3), of which three of those five results were decided by 1-0 results.
Prediction
Having conceded first in seven of their 13 Premier League matches and come from behind to win their last two games in all competitions, Tottenham are lucky to find themselves third because there are clear motivational issues in how they start matches.
That attitude therefore has to change because Spurs have ridden their luck at times but have failed to win against their top-six rivals coming into this matchweek so far this season, whilst also having fought back to win twice in the last week which really highlights how lucky they’ve been.
Add in their attacking issues with Son and Richarlison both ruled out whilst Kulusevski and Moura are doubts and I do worry for their options up front, with only Harry Kane and Bryan Gil definitely available but their midfielders have stepped up when needed which is a relief.
Liverpool meanwhile are still inconsistent and are yet to win away from home this season domestically, yet delivered a strong performance to snatch a late win over Napoli in midweek so their task now simply has to build upon the positives and mount a strong challenge here.
On that note, I would really like to see Liverpool take the fight to Spurs but at the same time, Tottenham’s midfield feels much stronger despite being the weaker up front coming into this match so tactics and finishing chances well will be absolutely crucial.
A draw therefore feels like a fair guess given the various issues within both clubs coming into this match.
Prediction: Tottenham 1-1 Liverpool
Result: Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool
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