JUST IN: ‘New’ kick-off time for Tottenham vs. Liverpool, TV channel, prediction, team news, lineups, referee and VAR.
JUST IN: ‘New’ kick-off time for Tottenham vs. Liverpool, TV channel, prediction, team news, lineups, referee and VAR.
Before locking horns in the EFL Cup semi-finals, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool collide in the pick of this weekend’s Premier League ties in North London on Sunday afternoon.
Ange Postecoglou’s team came up trumps in a 4-3 spectacular with Manchester United in midweek, while the league-leading Reds were 2-1 victors at Southampton to keep their quadruple hopes alive.
As Spurs boss Postecoglou went to embrace Ruben Amorim on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium touchline on Thursday, the knowing smile on the Australian’s face said it all; he had just witnessed his side survive more than one monumental scare to move just two games away from Wembley.
A pair of calamities from Fraser Forster gifted Man United a route back into Thursday’s semi-final after Tottenham raced into a 3-0 lead, but the Englishman’s opposite number Altay Bayindir was not covering himself in glory either, and a Son Heung-min corner which flew straight into the back of the net ended up proving decisive.
Postecoglou – who also cut a pleasantly humorous demeanour in his post-match interview – will soon end Spurs’ 17-year streak without a trophy if his second-season silverware comments are to ring true, and Tottenham’s gripping semi-final win came after they hit Southampton for five last time out in the Premier League.
Spurs hammered the final nail into Russell Martin’s St Mary’s coffin by scoring five goals in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time ever, but they still lie smack-bang in the middle of the top-flight table, five points below the coveted Champions League places.
After snapping a miserable four-game winless run across all competitions on home soil, next on the agenda for a resurrected Tottenham outfit is avoiding a four-match winless sequence in Premier League home games, which they have not suffered since their days at White Hart Lane in 2013.
Sunday’s hosts may have slayed Southampton in just 45 minutes during last weekend’s Premier League affair, but Arne Slot’s Liverpool made harder work of seeing off the division’s basement boys in cup action in midweek, prevailing by just the one goal rather than five.
Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott’s first-half efforts ultimately proved telling, making Cameron Archer’s fine strike inconsequential as Liverpool moved to within 270 minutes of defending their EFL Cup crown, one of four honours they are still in contention to win.
Now unbeaten in a terrific 20 matches in all competitions, the Reds remain at the top of the Premier League pile heading into the weekend, but their lead is no longer insurmountable; Chelsea have closed the gap to two points thanks to Liverpool’s successive draws with Newcastle United and Fulham.
Rescuing a 2-2 draw against the Cottagers after losing Andy Robertson to a first-half red card was a noble feat, though, and not a single side has managed to conquer Slot’s Liverpool as the home team this season; unsurprisingly, they are the only Premier League outfit with their unbeaten away record still intact this term.
Furthermore, only two of Liverpool’s last 23 Premier League battles with Tottenham have seen the Reds lose, although one of those came at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season, where the infamous “significant human error” and late Joel Matip own goal triggered their downfall.
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:
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Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):
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Liverpool Premier League form:
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Liverpool form (all competitions):
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