Tottenham vs Liverpool FC - EPL - Sept 30 [R]

Team picks itself, with the exception of the make up of the front three.

 

Diaz Nunez Mo .... has to be imo.

Jota scored yesterday but that apart he played imo his worst game for us.
Cody played 90 yesterday
Mo didn't play at all.

 

Can't afford to fall behind again in this match as they have the players who can really punish us if we leave a lot of open space.

That van de Ven guy has been playing well for them, why didn't we look at him this sum....

 

Probably because we have 5 CBs....

 

he is a good player though....

 

Similar to Saudicastle away, this will be a tough one.

 

Everybody's got to be mentally off the bus and on the pitch from the start for this one...

 

Let me makes wild guess. 1 - 3 after a first 5 minute give away.

The odds are too short to bet on it.

 

There was an exchange after the north London derby last Sunday when Son Heung-min was asked about playing as the No 9 for Tottenham, having just done so superbly, scoring twice in the 2-2 draw. “The gaffer probably has a plan … if he plays me as a full-back, I’ll play as a full-back,” the captain said.

Sonny, Ange Postecoglou is not going to play you at full-back. “Well, that’s how I feel,” he added, stressing he would do whatever the manager told him. Son’s work through the middle speaks for itself. Postecoglou likes his wingers to stay wide while Son is all about slicing inside, raising the question of whether he really fits in there.

But as a quick and mobile centre-forward, still able to bend wide on overlaps, with James Maddison playing the passes? It is an increasingly tantalising prospect. Liverpool will need a plan against him on Saturday.

 

Jurgen Klopp has been speaking in the build-up to his side's trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. He was asked whether he is surprised by how quickly his team has gelled: "Yeah. We had a good pre-season with a lot of players together, that is the main reason. That helps, definitely. Getting results in moments recently that may have gone the other way in previous years.

"Individually, their quality is good, the potential is there. The group is open for many things. This is a new start, year one for this team. We have created a basis and used it. We don't know how good we are, how stable this is, but we've had good moments."

Jurgen Klopp gives Liverpool team news ahead of the match against Tottenham: "Trent [Alexander-Arnold] trained yesterday and will train today. We have to make a decision. It looks like he can play. Stefan [Bajcetic] has had a little setback, we have to be careful; he's got a little calf issue. Thiago is still out."

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on whether this match is the biggest test of the season so far: "It is a really tough test. I can't remember an easy game; we played at Newcastle, that was tough. Chelsea too; the away games have all been tough and home games not easy.

"Tottenham is doing really well. Ange [Postecoglou] seems to be a top bloke, I'm looking forward to meeting him. If you saw Celtic play you'd know how good a coach he is. He is delivering good football in a year when Harry Kane left. He is doing extremely well; they are exciting to watch. It'll be a test for both of us."

Jurgen Klopp on Dominik Szoboszlai: "The boy is impressive; very smart. He is really nice too, close to everyone. He has charisma; he was so happy to come here, which is nice to see. He never played the position he is playing now, but we are learning together. It is a joy to work with him."

Jurgen Klopp, speaking ahead of Saturday's clash with Tottenham about the race for the Champions League: "Chelsea and Tottenham having no European football and being able to train all week when we and all the others travel makes it difficult.

"The performance is as important as the result; I would take a win, but it wouldn't give me an indication to where we are. There will be dips and difficult moments; we show we can adapt but we do not start the game in a great way. There is a lot of work to do. This is a tough week. Tottenham away, Union [Saint-Gilloise] at home and Brighton away are all tests."

Jurgen Klopp says that the way Tottenham set up under Ange Postcoglou is different to what he's been used to against the Lilywhites **: "Both teams will play football [in Saturday's fixture]. That is good news and new news because in recent years you played against the best counter-attacking team in the world."

** [Since when has this been a nickname for Spurs??]

 

Beginning of the end of the tough start, which will give way to a comfortable run of fixtures! At least on paper...

Points-wise LFC should somewhere in the mid-to-high 30s by the time they face Arsenal in mid-December. 34 points includes LFC drawing 3 and losing 2 of the next 10, which feels like a conservative projection from here. Looking at a handful of previous league tables, 34 pts after week 16 would put them somewhere between comfortably top 4 & firmly in title challenge.

And I figured Spurs & Brighton for 2 of the 3 draws factored there, so a win this weekend would put them ahead of that 34-point projection.

Should be an excellent test for both sides! Can't wait.

 

I honestly haven't really watched Spurs yet this season. Are they really that much improved or are they just not managed by a grumpy prick, so they are having more fun and just not quite as shit as they were before?

Haven't lost to them since the "Lovren" game at Wembley and feel like that is likely to continue.

 

City at Wolves without Rodri, means there is a fair chance they could drop points, which would give us a chance to match their points total or go top, so fully expect us to be on our game from the off.

 

they're getting a lot of positive press, but that needs adjusting based on where they play

4-2-0 after 6 games
one of 3 unbeaten teams along with us.
GD 8 (ours is 10)
beat MU (wow) Bournemouth, Burnley (yawn), Shef U (big yawn)
best result is 2-2 vs Arse

 

A bit of half and half, really. Madison and Son are good as a unit. The arsenal draw and Manure win they could have lost both. They play on the front foot as much as possible, but that usually suits Klopp teams. If Trent plays, darwin, diaz and salah could really hurt them.

 

That'll have already happened (or not) - I think!

 

And they really pulled that one out of the fire. Both goals in the 90th+ minutes.

 

The Maddison - Son factor, and also the performance of their midfield, are what I've been impressed by most of all. It's not just them getting good press, or playing more positively, because of not being managed by another anti-football asshole.

In the 2-2 Arse match for instance... they scored the two proper goals. The reason they conceded 2 is because of a fluke-y OG and a handball which could happen to anyone. So because of that, Spurs feel for real.

In fact, knowing that no analogy is perfect and this one is no exception... they remind me of a diet-version of 2014 Liverpool a little bit! Backline has issues, but their active midfield and potentially electric attack might score them out of trouble a lot this season. In fact it's already happened a couple times.

But they need to stay healthy! Which might be facilitated by no Europe/crashing out of domestic cups semi-early.

 

What's the "wow" for?

 

I don't think it matters who starts, we will need his impact from the bench.