Tottenham Hotspur face Liverpool in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final
Tottenham Hotspur’s next game takes them to Anfield to take Liverpool with just two games standing between them and the Carabao Cup, which would be their first piece of silverware since 2008. Ange Postecoglou’s men head into the second leg of the League Cup semi-final with a 1-0 advantage in their favour from the first bout which Lucas Bergvall decided with a late goal.
Apart from the Swedish youngster, Antonin Kinsky also stood out in the game as he debuted after joining from Slavia Prague in January and kept a clean sheet with a terrific display in between the sticks. Anything but a defeat will do the trick for Spurs, who can set up a final versus Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16th.
Team News
Liverpool
Liverpool have no suspensions in the second leg of their Carabao Cup but will be without Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are both injured. The latter came off against Bournemouth and has only suffered a minor setback, though it is enough to rule him out of contention against the Lilywhites later this evening.
Arne Slot’s men have rested well since their 2-0 win in the Premier League last weekend and consequent to that, it is expected that the best Liverpool side will take the field with the hopes of turning a 1-0 deficit around. Though there could be a handful of rotations, no seismic changes to the system are expected from Slot.
PREDICTED LIVERPOOL XI (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Jones, Gakpo; Nunez
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur’s lengthy injury list has not been reduced by any means in recent weeks with Brennan Johnson, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert set to miss the game. Though there are no suspensions, the injury list is nearly a separate eleven in itself.
Ange Postecoglou’s limited resources have been overrun in recent weeks and once more, no rotations are expected simply due to a lack of resources at the Australian’s disposal. While Kevin Danso might not get minutes from the word go, Mathys Tel will likely be in the starting line-up as Solanke’s replacement in attack.
PREDICTED TOTTENHAM XI (4-3-3): Kinsky; Porro, Gray, Davies, Spence; Kulusevski, Bentancur, Bissouma; Richarlison, Tel, Son
Match-deciding duel
Conor Bradley vs Son Heung-min
Conor Bradley has proven himself against a number of fantastic wingers this season, not least Kylian Mbappe when Real Madrid visited Anfield in November last year. The youngster, however, remains an inexperienced option and if Son Heung-min can have his number from the start of the game, Bradley might have a hard time without the ball.
The South Korean is starting to find his feet and if he were to be a differential at Anfield, that performance would come at an ideal time for Postecoglou’s men. It will be interesting to see how Son squares up against his opponent down the left flank and also how he performs defensively when Bradley attacks down Spurs’ left.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
- Tottenham in three-way transfer battle as Conte plans to sign Spurs target this summer
- Not Toney – Tottenham put off by €50m asking price for striker whose contract expires in less than 12 months
- Tottenham now in position to hijack Chelsea deal for Serie A ace
Prediction
Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur need to avoid a loss by over a goal’s margin against Liverpool, while a single strike’s deficit would send the match into extra time and then penalties if required. The Londoners, however, will want to finish the job within 90 minutes given how depleted they are and will defend deep, thus frustrating Liverpool. The Reds might find a way past Spurs once, who are also likely to score on the counter-attack and do just enough to seal passage into the cup final.
