In one of the later kick-offs on Saturday evening, Liverpool will be hoping to make it 3 wins out of 3 in all competitions in a bid to continue steadying the ever-rocky ship when they play Tottenham.
Recent Classics
This fixture has a tendency to throw up a lot of goals for both sides, but mainly for Liverpool. We’ve put 20 past them in our last 5 meetings, and we always seem to find a way to come out on top.
In the past 10 meetings in the Premier League, we’ve only fallen short on one occasion, so on paper, it’s a team we should be excited to come up against. But games aren’t played on paper.
The last time we were in this stadium, a Luis Diaz and Mo Salah double helped us on our way to a 6-3 hammering, but the time before was the infamous Diaz offside/onside goal fiasco and unlucky Joel Matip’s stoppage time own goal.
The last time we played them was at Anfield on April 27th 2025. A day for 5 goals, 20 league titles and memories to last us all a lifetime.
Three matches of some of the most intense emotions a football fan can feel. Surely that means this fixture is going to be 0-0, right? Probably not.
Equally Turbulent Seasons
Both Liverpool and Spurs find themselves in positions they wouldn’t have anticipated being in before a ball was kicked in August.
Liverpool were fresh off the back of number 20, and Spurs had just won the Europa League whilst bringing in one of the league's most talented, tactical managers, Thomas Frank.
I’m not sure anyone predicted we’d be sat in 7th and 11th respectively heading into the holiday fixtures.
I think both squads are adjusting to new squads and a new regime. Liverpool had a very public and expensive transfer window.
Hard to divert the eyes away from such a spectacle, and as a result, we’ve been under the microscope a bit. That, coupled with being quite bad for the majority of the season, is never a good mix.
Spurs are still adjusting to life without their golden boys. This fixture usually sees us up against Harry Kane and Heung Min-Son, but they’ve moved on to pastures new and Spurs have yet to adequately replace them.
It’s hard to replace players of that caliber and Thomas Frank is bearing that load a little.
A quick check of the Premier League sack race shows Frank as the bookies' favourite to get the boot next, but one result against an unpredictable Liverpool side could tilt the odds back in his favour.
Difference Makers
Whilst it’s worth noting that Spurs have lost a couple of their heavy hitters in recent seasons, it’s not like they’re without firepower and talent.
Frank is a defensively focused manager, and he has one of the best young centre-backs at his disposal in Mickey Van de Ven. Pacey, calm and effective going forward, the full package for a modern CB.
He can carry Spurs out of trouble and is definitely someone to keep an eye on when we’re defending corners, something we’ve done terribly this season.
Up the other end of the pitch, the standout name for me is Mohammed Kudus. A fancy player that, if you believed the talk in the papers, we had our eye on as well.
He’s direct and dangerous. If he smells a little weakness in a defensive set-up, he attacks and can be a pain for the entire 90 minutes. He’s seeming to find his feet a little in North London, and that should be a worry for all Liverpool fans come Saturday.
In red, it has to look past arguably our most in-form player, Curtis Jones. Practically nailed on to start, he’s been absolutely electric in recent weeks.
He’s our scouse metronome, controlling the pace of a game and influencing most of our attacks. He showed signs of this last season, roughly around the same time of year, too, but dropped off in the new year.
Here’s hoping he can kick and maintain the level of performance he’s showing now for the rest of the season.
Notable Absences
You could write an entire article on the players who are missing out for various reasons. Neither of the teams are at full strength, and it’ll likely make a difference.
Let’s start with AFCON, with each team having one very notable absentee. Spurs are missing their dangerous centre mid in Pape Sarr. Never too far away from a shot on goal, his absence makes Spurs a little less potent.
On the other side, we’re obviously without Mo. His cameo last weekend felt like Mo of old, but when he isn’t around, we’ll always be that bit weaker.
The injury lists for both teams are about as long as my arm. Whilst Spurs lost James Maddison for the season very early on, they’re probably still going to be without Kulusevski, Bissouma and Udogie. 3 core players that we might be able to exploit the absence of.
As for Liverpool, I wouldn’t expect to see Gomez or Frimpong and definitely not Gakpo. There is no doubting we have a deeper squad than Spurs, and honestly, that might be what this result comes down to.
What To Expect
In Spurs, we come up against a team that seems to be more unpredictable at defending than we are. It’s showing all signs of winter shootout.
Whilst Frank’s team are usually rigid and resolute, the team has a knack for leaking goals and is one of the main reasons some Spurs fans are calling for a change at the helm.
The plight of the modern manager is a tough one, and when you’re in the hot seat, you’re rarely given time to turn around a sustained period of bad form.
Personally, I like Frank and do believe he needs time, but whilst he tinkers to get it right, it would be great if we took three points off them in the process.
If we’re looking to gain a little bit of confidence in front of goal, I think this would be one of our more favourable fixtures, but we’ve shown this season more than most that we enjoy making things seem quite easy, extremely difficult.
We’ve looked good in our last 2 outings against Inter and Brighton, and if we can win three in a row, we’ll gain significant confidence heading into late December and the New Year.
I’ve been trained to expect the unexpected from Liverpool this season, but in a fixture that usually can’t be predicted, I have no idea which way tomorrow goes.
If we build on the stability we’ve shown in our most recent outings, we should have enough at the other end to get this one over the line. Slot has got it right over the past couple of weeks, and here’s hoping we can continue that trend.
All I want for Christmas is three points on the weekend. Let’s see what gets delivered.