Preview

Liverpool have a golden opportunity to keep the pressure on those above them against a ragged-looking Tottenham Hotspur.

By Ian King

English teams had a bad week in the Champions League, but some had worse ones than others

It was a pretty bad week for the Premier League in the Champions League, but while Liverpool and Spurs both lost their games, the former’s performance seemed like it could be reversible in the second leg while the latter’s was more like that of a team that seems to be plumbing new depths in terms of ways in which to make themselves laughing stocks. It feels difficult to second guess what the mood in the Spurs camp since then could have been like, but any descriptions are highly unlikely to include the word “positive.” 

Liverpool, meanwhile, have been patchy. A defeat to Wolves in the League was followed up in the same week with a comfortable 3-1 win against the same opponents in the FA Cup, and with the Galatasaray defeat having come following those two results, it remains the case that their improvement has been stop-start. Arne Slot’s position may be dependent on finishing in the top four or winning the Champions League. He’s certainly on shaky ground.  Just in time for a visit from Doctor Tottenham. 

Spurs have a famously terrible record at Anfield 

There’s no other way of putting it; Tottenham’s record at Anfield is famously bad. When they beat them there 1-0 in the First Division on the 16th March 1985, it was the first time they’d done so in exactly 73 years. They’ve only ever won there seven times, and the last time they did so came in May 2011. Liverpool have won their last two meetings – in the League Cup and the Premier League in February and April 2025 – by an aggregate score of 9-1, and they also beat them 2-1 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December.

Ekitike vs Vicario could be the big battle of the afternoon

Hugo Ekitiké has been the star turn for Liverpool so far this season, and he’ll be optimistic of increasing his 11-goal tally for the season following a difficult few weeks. He’s only scored once since his excellent double against Newcastle at the end of January, and he’s capable of better than he’s delivered in his last couple of appearances. He may also have taken note of how chaotic his opponents were on Tuesday night.

Assuming that he starts, this time around, all eyes should be on Gugliemo Vicario for Spurs, following an astonishing selection blunder by head coach Igor Tudor which was only compounded by his atrocious man-management of what was visibly a very difficult moment for Antonín Kinsky, a young goalkeeper with no Champions League experience, who was thrown into a knockout tie and with a rickety team in front of him. Vicario needs to rediscover his form – and he did concede two himself – and he’s likely to have a busy afternoon.

As if the length of their treatment list wasn’t long enough already, Spurs players have now started injuring each other

Given Djed Spence’s reaction to Tudor following his substitution in Madrid, it’ll be interesting to see whether he starts, though the (for now) head coach might not have any choice. Micky Van de Ven is suspended for his sending off against Crystal Palace, while both Cristian Romero and João Palhinha could both be missing after their clash of heads in Madrid left Spurs with nine players on the pitch by the end of the match.

Otherwise, the injury list remains as it has for a while, with Wilson Odobert, Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies, James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski all still out. There will be eleven players out in total for Spurs, if Romero and Palhinha don’t make it, and with both of them having suffered a degree of concussion, it’s unlikely that they will. 

Liverpool have a couple of possible returns, though it remains unlikely that Alisson Becker or Federico Chiesa will be ready for this match. Both missed the midweek trip to Turkey. Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Wataru Endo and Alexander Isak are all longer term absentees for the Reds. 

The timing of this home visit from Doctor Tottenham couldn’t have been better for Liverpool

With another five goals conceded in the week, little reason to believe that the players want to play for Igor Tudor, form that’s in the gutter and that fabulously terrible historical record at Anfield, there is little reason to believe that Spurs can take anything from this match. If they do have a chance of staying up this season (and it’s not a foregone conclusion yet), that more likely comes with still-to-play home matches against Nottingham Forest and Leeds. Tudor will be in place for this match, but few believe that he will be for long after it. 

Liverpool’s position is far from perfect. They also need a win. Arne Slot’s position is also at risk at the end of this season, and qualification for the Champions League is likely to be the minimum that will be expected of him. And it’s still within touch, although the conflagration of English clubs in the Champions League this week has lowered the odds of fourth place being the minimum target to get there for next season. 

But although Liverpool have been stuttering all season, Spurs will arrive on Merseyside in such a ragged condition that an extremely comfortable home win feels like the only likely outcome from this match. Liverpool have such a wealth of attacking options that the very idea of their half-baked opponents being able to do anything much about it seems fanciful. I’m going to say 5-1 to Liverpool, and for the hapless Spurs head coach to be looking for another new job by Monday lunchtime.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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