Tottenham look well set up to trouble Liverpool’s renowned defence in Saturday night’s Premier League showdown, says Andy Schooler…
Liverpool have already played 29 games in 2022, 23 of which have been won.
Of those that haven’t, three were second legs of ties they already led and subsequently qualified from.
Impressive doesn’t really do it justice.
Klopp’s juggling act going well
They continue to rack up Premier League points but while Manchester City’s lead has been cut it has not completely disappeared and with four games remaining, the destination of the title remains in the defending champions’ hands.
Still, after City’s midweek Champions League heartache, the potential for them to slip up against Newcastle the day after this contest is clear.
It is, of course, imperative Liverpool do the business first and Jurgen Klopp will have to continue to juggle his players.
The German deserves to be lauded for many reasons but perhaps most of all for his team selections over the past few months.
The games have piled up in the hunt for four trophies but Klopp has given the right players the right games off. Whoever Liverpool have put out, they’ve nearly always been able to get a result.
Tiredness has not appeared to be any kind of issue and as if to underline that, Liverpool fought back from a tricky position in midweek away to Villarreal, going through the gears in the second half to stave off the hosts’ unexpected, early threat.
Energy levels looked just fine but with a Champions League final now added to the fixture list, a sprinkling of changes seems likely here, especially with another crucial league game at Aston Villa to come on Tuesday.
Andy Robertson and Sadio Mane look due a rest having started the last six – Kostas Tsimikas and Luis Diaz are not exactly bad replacements to bring in, if Klopp deems it necessary.
Don’t expect as many changes as last weekend at Newcastle though given the opposition.
Spurs can trouble hosts
Tottenham caused Liverpool plenty of problems in the reverse fixture, a game that ended 2-2.
They also have their own target to chase – a top-four finish – and, with a huge showdown with Arsenal next up on Thursday, things remain in their own hands on that front heading into the last four games.
While they’ve been accused of stuttering, it’s actually five wins in seven for Antonio Conte’s men after last week’s 3-1 victory over Leicester.
That game again showed how threatening their attack can be with Son Heung-min scoring twice and assisting Harry Kane for the other goal.
Dejan Kulusevski also caught the eye as a substitute and it would be no surprise for him to start here.
Further back, there are concerns though. Oliver Skipp’s season ended a while ago, while Ryan Sessegnon will almost certainly be asked to continue at left wing-back, an area the hosts could look to exploit, with Sergio Reguilon and Matt Doherty injured.
A key take-out from what was a thrilling reverse fixture was how capable Spurs were of getting in behind Liverpool’s high line of defence.
Son and Kane were the main tormentors and Spurs could easily have led by more than one goal before their visitors launched a fightback.
Goals on the cards
Admittedly Virgil van Dijk – the man deemed pretty much unrestable by Klopp – was absent that day due to COVID but there’s no doubt the Reds do leave plenty of space in behind. Son and Kane are great at making runs into such areas and Spurs do have the ability to thread balls through.
With this in mind, the bet I like the most is for both teams to score at 1.784/5.
Liverpool should keep their side of this particular bargain – they nearly always do – and Spurs certainly offered up chances to Leicester last week.
The history of this fixture is also great for this bet – it’s landed in 11 of the last 14 meetings, including at Anfield last season. That was the game Spurs went into looking potential title contenders, soaked up the pressure, missed chances on the break and eventually lost 2-1 to a last-minute goal.
I wouldn’t be surprised were something similar to unfold here and Liverpool to win with both teams to score at 3.02/1 is tempting.
Reds firm favourites
Such markets certainly look more attractive than the outright win one in which Liverpool are just 1.4740/85 and Spurs 7.413/2 for the upset.
Elsewhere, those looking to create a Bet Builder could easily add over 2.5 goals, something which has landed in eight of the sides’ last 10 meetings.
If Joe Gomez starts, he’ll be a contender to be shown a card having collected one in three of his last four starts. The Liverpool defender will also be in the same area of the field as the livewire Son.
Red-hot Son can shine
And I can’t sign off without mentioning that 12.5 is available on the Exchange about the Korean scoring the first goal of the game.
Son is in fine form right now and has scored eight goals in his last six games.
If he times another of those runs right against a side who could be feeling the nerves, then that’s a price which could soon look big.
It’s worth some small change.
Opta fact
Liverpool against Tottenham is the second highest scoring fixture in Premier League history (170 goals in 59 meetings), while it’s had more penalties awarded than any other match-up in the competition (23).
Source: Betfair Premier League
