The Reds seek to win their eighth game in a row and record two more clean sheets.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool on Saturday, September 30 at 5:30 p.m. GMT/12:30 p.m. EST at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League.
Giovani Lo Celso, Ryan Sessegnon, and Rodrigo Bentancur won’t be able to play in this game due to injury, and Brennan Johnson and James Maddison, who both suffered knocks in the North London Derby, will need to pass a late fitness test.
Tottenham has only triumphed once in the previous 23 games played against Liverpool in all competitions: a 4-1 home victory in October 2017. In this stadium, which opened in 2019, Liverpool is unbeaten, winning three games and losing one. The Reds will aim to maintain their domination, while Angelos Postecoglou’s revamped Spurs will seek to further their exciting new saga. (Note: The Spurs manager was a Red in his youth. Please help us, giant Ange?)
Because the team appears to have confidence in its abilities and a willingness to play for their manager for the first time in a while, and because of their manager’s interactions with the fanbase, Spurs under Postecoglou will feel somewhat familiar to Liverpool fans in terms of vibe. This isn’t the first place to mention that there are hints of Jürgen Klopp’s early Liverpool days, but for this specific match, all it means is that Spurs will have to compete for the full 90 minutes, and the atmosphere is likely to be boisterous.
That’s pretty much all that matters since we don’t really care about Tottenham Hotspur’s future. If “willingness to fight” is a factor, Liverpool (9 points) is the only team that has outscored Tottenham (8) this year in losing situations. This match ought to be a “it’s not over until it’s over” type of contest.
Even though they both earned a point in the North London Derby last weekend, Spurs will likely be the happier of the two teams. Spurs are currently evaluating themselves, while Arsenal are attempting to return to their title-challenging levels from last season. Spurs proved that they could hold their own against Arsenal, even though the Gunners did get caught up in the derby-ness of it all.
Tottenham enters this contest with a seven-game winning streak across all competitions and is currently ranked fourth (W4 D2). They are also more rested and have more time to prepare than other elite teams this year because they are not playing in Europe; as Jürgen Klopp noted in his pre-match press conference, “Getting into the Champions League will be a massive and a difficult task this year because of well-rested big animals [in Chelsea and Tottenham].”
According to the statistics, Postecoglou has a 40-game home winning streak as the head coach of both Spurs and Tottenham, and this season, all of those victories have taken place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They last suffered a home loss in May 2023 against Brentford, losing 3-1.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3) – Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Jota, Diaz
Due to his injury, Thiago is still out, and Stefan Bajcetic is also ruled out due to a minor calf problem. Trent Alexander-Arnold, on the other hand, has recovered from his hamstring injury and might start on Saturday.
Even while Liverpool has given up goals much too frequently, they have also let up the second-fewest goals (5), behind league leaders Manchester City (2), despite all the hype about their defense. It’s a difficult situation because Liverpool has undoubtedly given up more chances than they would like (although the number of goals conceded doesn’t really reflect how open some first halves have been; on the other hand, some goals have been given up after opponents’ only significant chances).
Alisson hasn’t quite saved the Reds from danger just yet, despite the fact that the data sample size is too tiny to be significant at this point. Liverpool has given up an xGA of between 7 and 8 (depending on where you look for your figures) in the league, while also conceding seven goals.
Giving up chances is a concern, though. Liverpool and Manchester City are relatively close in terms of goals against, but City has limited opponents to a lot fewer opportunities to start the season in all competitions, with just two games having xGA values of 1.0 or higher, compared to Liverpool’s three games below that mark and one (Newcastle) above 2.0. Why does this matter? Simply put, there are obvious defensive difficulties that need to be handled, even though the situation may not be as bad as it appears in context (conceding first will always feel and look worse).
Most of them stem from the press being less effective than in the past, which has made it easier for teams to build and catch Liverpool in transition. Although it is still a mixed bag, the switch to an inverted fullback (typically Alexander-Arnold) may have been intended to address this. But as Tifo IRL has noted, Curtis Jones’ addition has made the biggest difference in Liverpool’s winning streak: Jones’ inclusion in the team allows Liverpool to keep possession of the ball and prevents the Reds from being caught in a defensive transition (need more information? More information is provided in the Tifo video link above.
A test will be Tottenham. Liverpool will have to deal with a lot of direct running and deft build-up from Spurs, who are by no means settled but do represent an organized danger. They will also be hoping that Maddison, who appears to be a significant addition for them, will be unavailable for this match since it will be played too soon. Son Heung-min, the current captain of Tottenham, has scored against Liverpool in each of his last three matches. Tottenham has a lot of threats, even without Maddison serving as the team’s glue, and we can anticipate that all of them will mean a little bit more to Richarlison.
Of course, Liverpool’s offensive prowess is impressive, and the Reds are coming off two victories that demonstrated the variety of ways this squad can score. They will attempt to maintain that against opposition that is undoubtedly stronger than Championship leaders Leicester City in a venue that is more difficult to visit.
What the Managers Had to Say
Jurgen Klopp: “I think we are better prepared than we look sometimes. There’s a lot of work to do and it is a long, long road and Tottenham is a tough game, it’s a tough week with Tottenham away then Union at home and Brighton away. It’s a tough week. So, if we want, these are all tests; clear. But it’s better to go in these kind of games and these kind of tests with good results in your bag than with bad results in your bag because it just feels better. Now let’s see what we can make.”
Angelos Postecoglou: “I think from when Jürgen [Klopp] came, the tempo and intensity was another level. The Premier League has always been an intense league but he took it to another level.”
The Officials
Referee: Simon Hooper Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long Fourth official: Michael Oliver VAR: Darren England Assistant VAR: Dan Cook