liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Venue: Anfield Stadium
Kick off: 5:30pm
The next stop on Tottenham Hotspur’s title challenge takes them to Anfield on Saturday (today) as they face Liverpool in their first match after the international break.
The visitors go into the game just five points off leaders, Leicester City, while Liverpool will not have given up hope of reaching the top four this season.
Securing Champions League football for next season remains the ultimate goal for Liverpool this term, but their chances look significantly bleaker now than they did just a couple of weeks ago.
Fresh from the high of knocking their biggest rivals, Manchester United, out of the Europa League, the Reds were handed what was widely regarded as the toughest draw available – a quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund.
Tottenham themselves can certainly not be overlooked this weekend, though, and if qualifying for the Champions League via the Europa League is difficult with the draw, doing so via the Premier League would surely be out of the question should Liverpool lose today.
Liverpool do still have the advantage of at least one game in hand over the majority of teams around them in the table, though, which makes their ninth-place standing somewhat misleading.
It may be the home straight of the Premier League season, but Spurs will be hoping for a few more twists and turns to come.
They certainly need them.
Five points is the gap to leaders Leicester, and with the Foxes showing few signs of wavering, Tottenham must take every opportunity to test their nerve.
Today’s match marks the start of a difficult run-in for Tottenham, with their next six matches all coming against teams in the top 11 of the table before a final-day trip to Newcastle United, who could well still be fighting for their lives.
Compare that to Leicester, who take on four teams in the top 11, and Arsenal, who still have six bottom-half sides to play, and the respective run-ins are a mark in the negative column for Tottenham’s title tilt.
Having said that, Spurs have already shown that they are capable of beating any Premier League team on their day and go into this today’s match having won eight and lost just one of their last 10 league outings.
Liverpool possible starting lineup: Mignolet, Flanagan, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno, Milner, Henderson, Can, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge.
Tottenham possible starting lineup: Lloris, Walker, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Rose, Dembele, Dier, Lamela, Eriksen, Alli, Kane.