This coming Saturday, all eyes will be on the crucial clash at Anfield where Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur go head to head to prove who has a greater hunger for the Champions League spot. (Presumptuously assuming that Chelsea are going to secure the 2016/17 title)
On the other hand, the north London club will be taking on Jurgen Klopp’s side without a full first-choice backline. Certainly a big blow when you’re up against the league’s joint highest scorers.
Key stars like Danny Rose and Jan Vertonghen are sidelined and the home side will fancy their chances to create chaos at the respective positions. The former picked up a knee injury at the Stadium of Light in Tottenham’s goalless draw with the Black Cats. The England international is set to consult a knee specialist over the injury. If it’s a severe hit in the medical ligament, he could be out for almost a month. Ben Davies is another attack-minded left-back of his ilk, bar the burst of pace that Rose comprise.
Moving to the heart of defence, Vertonghen is showing great improvements over an ankle injury but the route to return to first team action is certainly much longer. The Belgian defender has been a sleeper hit since joining the club from Ajax in 2012. His healthy blend of aerial prowess, the knack of scoring from set pieces and most importantly, strong reading of the game from his sheer experience. Attributes that will be vital for big games like this, which requires mental strength to be on par with physical strength. In his absence, man-mountain Eric Dier will be filling up the void.
The boost for Mauricio Pochettino’s men is the recovery of Kieran Tripper, who wasn’t on the team sheet last weekend due to a hip problem. With Kyle Walker relishing a decent run of form, he will be biding his time from the bench yet again. The only blot out of defence is winger Erik Lamela, who is also dealing with a hip problem.
Meanwhile, Klopp too may need to reshuffle his defensive cards as Ragnar Klavan and Dejan Lovren remains doubtful for Saturday’s clash. Lovren has considerably improved under Klopp’s tutelage, yet some silly errors sting by here and there has caught up the criticism. Klavan is a dependable deputy for the first choice centre-back pairing of Joel Matip and Lovren. Some reports claim that the former Borussia Dortmund boss is planning to recall Joe Gomez.
So far, it’s been a year to forget for the Reds, who have not registered a single Premier League win, and crashed out of two cup competitions, within the space of a week. A defeat to Tottenham in the weekend could see their top four chances fade away.
Here are the good and bad team news ahead of the nail-biting match, as per the report from The Sun:
Who is absolutely out for Liverpool?
Out: Danny Ings, Marko Grujic, Ovie Ejaria
Doubts: Dejan Lovren, Ragnar Klavan
Who is absolutely out for Tottenham Hotspur?
Out: Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen, Erik Lamela
Doubts: Kieran Tripper, Georges-Kévin N’Koudou
